Wish You Were Here
by NattyA
Summary: A supernatural fan gets the chance to change the boys' future and maybe, definitely, find love along the way. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Wish You Were Here

"No!" Jade wailed, "I can't believe they really did it!" Sarah agreed wholeheartedly, they'd both read the spoilers on Wikipedia but were still upset by the dramatic end to season three. The two girls were rugged up on the couch surrounded by snacks and Coke. They both loved Supernatural and had wanted to watch the season final together. Sarah was slightly shell-shocked, the final image of a tortured Dean in chains still playing in her mind. She wasn't even sure she wanted to watch the next season. She knew the writers would find a way to get Dean out of hell but the poor guy was going to be ruined. "It's not fair," Jade continued, "after all he's done I can't believe Kripke would do it to him."

"Yeah," Sarah echoed, still thinking.

"Well, I better get going anyway. I don't know how I'm going to wait another 4 months for the next lot."

Sarah smirked, "Maybe it will give you time to focus on your uni assignments instead of Dean's ass."

"Please, no contest. His ass would win over linguistics papers any day."

Sarah was still thinking about poor Dean's fate when she went to bed that night, so she wasn't overly concerned when she had a nightmare about it. She'd had weird dreams featuring movie stars and fictional characters before and even though it had felt alarmingly real at the time, in the bright morning light she shrugged it off.

But it kept happening. Every few nights she'd have the same damn dream. It was hot and red and there was Dean, strung up and bleeding, and she had to watch as he was cut and burned over and over again. She'd scream his name and try to reach him, but it was like she was stuck in place and all she could do was watch. A few times she thought that he'd heard her when he'd look her way, but he seemed to stare right through her.

It had been two months now and Sarah was fairly positive she was going crazy. She hadn't told anyone, but her friends and family were starting to notice she was losing weight (a side effect she wasn't at all unhappy with) and looking tired. She'd seen a doctor about it explaining about the bad dreams, if not the exact content of them, and had been prescribed some sleeping tablets. But all they'd done was make it harder to wake up from the nightmares.

It was later that night that Sarah found herself searching the internet, looking for people with similar problems, when she felt herself nodding off. She shook herself and took another swig of Coke. She was due for another one any day now and was not looking forward to it. She felt her eyes drift closed and was blasted with a wave of heat. _Bloody hell_ she opened her eyes and that same creepy guy was hovering over Dean holding a hooked knife. The knife was dripping blood and it was obvious that he'd been using it to carve into Dean's face.

"One little word Dean. Just one little word and all of the pain goes away." God she hated his voice, that strange almost lisping voice that whispered softly as he cut on Dean. "Come now," he said as he twisted the knife in Dean's side, "I know you want to say it." The sound was horrible, wet and smacking as he separated muscle from bone. Sarah clamped her hands over her ears and almost missed Dean's whispered, "Yes."

Sarah could see him break as he said it, as he realised that he'd failed and it made her…angry. As she looked at them she felt an uncontrollable rage boiling up inside of her. Even if she was crazy and had obviously spent way too much time watching Supernatural, it felt real and it was not fair! He was a hero who had given everything he had and they just kept breaking him until there was nothing left. The injustice of it erupted out of her mouth, not as words, but as a single, inarticulate scream.

She heard a sound like breaking glass and suddenly she was standing next to Dean, with Alistair sprawled eight feet away. Alistair snarled as he reared to his feet, but she didn't even look at him as she raised her hand to Dean's uninjured cheek. "I'm here," she whispered as everything winked out.


	2. Dream On

It was lovely and warm. The ground was kind of prickly, but still soft enough to be comfortable. Sarah smiled and stretched with her eyes still closed. She must have had some kind of breakthrough with her nightmares because this was the nicest dream she'd had in months; just warm sunshine, no demons and something with way too many scratchy feet crawling up her neck and into her hair. Sarah squealed and leapt into the air, dancing around trying to dislodge whatever it was.

Shaking the creepy crawly loose she looked around and saw she was standing in a clearing surrounded by tall trees. The dry grass crunched under her feet and she could hear some kind of bird calling off in the distance. Over the last two months Sarah had gotten used to very lucid dreams, but this was no hellscape. It was sharp and focused and all too real. Maybe she'd started sleepwalking and left the house last night. But this was nowhere she'd ever been before and seriously, how far could you sleepwalk in one night?

She thought she could hear cars in the distance and did a slow circle trying to see a road through the trees. Instead she saw the simple wooden cross in the ground. "That is not what I think it is," she whispered, "You can't just burry people in the woods. It's not legal." She stood very still trying not to hyperventilate at the thought of sleeping next to a grave. She'd almost gotten her heart rate under control when two hands burst out of the ground. Sarah screamed falling back onto her ass, every zombie movie she'd ever watched flashing in front of her eyes.

Sarah scrambled to her feet and made to run as the corpse's head and shoulders emerged from the grassy ground. It was Dean. She hesitated a moment before reaching forward and grabbing his arm, helping to haul him out of the grave. Dean latched onto her in desperation and she found herself staring into panicked green eyes. "You," he said his voice hoarse.

"That's my line," she murmured, feeling off-balance and confused. Despite dreaming about him for so long he'd never seemed as close or real as right now. His eyes narrowed as he got his bearings and he struggled to his knees. "Who are you? How did I get here?"

"I.." Sarah trailed off, at a loss as to how to explain everything.

He shook her slightly, "Is this some kind of test? A new torture?"

"I'm sorry," she said helplessly, "I didn't think you were real." Dean shot her a look that clearly said that he was displeased with her answers and released her, surveying their surroundings. Sarah's mind whirled with fear and mild hysteria. _This is it, I've finally snapped._ She could picture herself a drooling mess at her computer, her mind gone on permanent hiatus. Dean snapped his fingers in her face drawing her attention. "How long have I been gone for?"

Sarah wondered if time in her world and his ran in the same way, "Two months, I think." Dean nodded distractedly and started for the edge of the clearing. Sarah remained where she was feeling very lost and not a little bit scared. He turned back and barked impatiently, "You coming?" She took a deep breath and flashed him a grateful smile before hurrying after him.

Dean headed towards the road, the girl moving silently beside him. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. She looked to be in her early 20s, pretty but nothing special. She looked ridiculously normal. How had this little girl busted him out of the pit? Where were Sam and Bobby? Was Sammy alright? Dean took a shuddering breath. He couldn't get his bearings, he felt raw like every nerve ending was screaming, like he was back in that hole with Alistair smirking down at him. Despite all that he felt fine physically, which was alarming considering he'd spent the last two months in the ground. The girl tripped over the uneven ground, shaking him from his thoughts. "What are you?"

She looked startled and then confused, "I'm Sarah. Just Sarah."

"Care to explain how we got here Just Sarah." She took a hasty step back, clearly not liking his expression. But honestly Dean could care less whether or not she was scared. Hell he still wasn't sure he should be trusting the bitch. "I think," she began finally still not meeting his eyes, "I think we should maybe check in with your family first and then try to sort all this out."

"And what makes you think that I'll let you within 10 feet of my family?"

The girl looked mildly offended, "I wouldn't hurt them. I wouldn't hurt any of you. This is just all so crazy, I need to sort through it myself first." Dean just swiped at his brow too hot and bothered to deal with anything at the moment. They continued on in silence, huffing slightly in the oppressing heat.

Eventually they came across a deserted gas station. Dean wandered up to the door, pressing his face against the glass. Sarah looked at him in confusion as he wrapped his shirt around his fist. "Ah Dean? It's…" Her eyes widened as he broke through the door's window, "closed." Dean only gave her a cocky grin as he opened the door and went inside. Sarah stood frozen at the door. She'd never broken the law before. _Well_, she reminded herself, _I did steal those library books_. But she wasn't really sure if that counted seeing as she'd moved states and accidentally packed them with the rest of her books. She took a deep breath and held it as she crossed the threshold, waiting for the police to descend and arrest them. All that was waiting for her was Dean chugging down a bottle of water like he hadn't had a drink in years.

Something clenched deep in her chest as she watched him. It shook her from the daze she'd been wandering around in. There were three possibilities here: either she was delusional lying somewhere in a crazed coma, she was dead and this was the weirdestheaven she's ever heard of, or this was all real. And what was funny was no matter which one it was, it didn't matter. For all intents and purposes she was stuck here until further notice and she sure as hell wasn't going to waste it freaking out.

While Dean washed some of the dirt off his face she packed a plastic bag with snacks. Unfortunately the station didn't have much in the way of real food. As she turned to ask him what kind of chips he liked she froze. Dean had his shirt pulled up in front of a mirror looking at his now perfect chest and boy was it perfect. As he caught her looking in the reflection the store began to shake. He shot her an angry look and she shrugged helplessly, "It's not me!"

He strode to one of the shelves and grabbed a canister of salt, hurrying to the window and pouring it on the sill. A high pitched whine started causing them both to wince and cover their ears. It intensified and the windows started to shatter throwing Dean into the centre of the room. Sarah screamed, closing her eyes and curling into a ball as the shop seemed to explode around them. Sarah staggered to her feet, her shoes slipping on the broken glass. "What," Sarah stopped and shook her head, trying to clear out the ringing and tried again. "What was that?" Dean had moved back to the window and was cautiously looking out. "You sure it wasn't you?" He rasped. Sarah gave a slightly hysterical nod, "Then lady, I ain't got a damn clue."


	3. Fly On The Wall

# Author's note: Sorry just realised I haven't done one of these yet. I love reading fic and have never done one before. My favourites are self inserts. I love the idea of getting to play with your favourite characters. However I'm finding it really hard to find many decent Supernatural ones where the OC doesn't spaz out, faint or happen to be an all-powerful, smart-mouthed bad ass with a dark secret. So I thought I'd write one. If you do know of any great self inserts please message me their titles or authors. I'm going to really try to have the guys stay in character. Please review and let me know if I'm douching them up.

Oh yeah and standard disclaimer yadda. I only own Sarah and Jade so far.

###

Sarah stood just outside the gas station, watching as Dean made a few phone calls. He didn't seem to make any real contact with anyone and quickly emerged, eying off an old, nearby car. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him hot wire the car, it was Dean Winchester at his bad boy best. She was lucky he didn't seem to like her much, because if he sent her one of those melty smiles of his she was in major trouble. Dean looked up as the car spluttered to life, catching her grinning like moron. "Well?" Sarah just shook her head helplessly and climbed into the passenger seat.

They drove in tense, awkward silence for a few minutes before Sarah worked up the nerve to ask where they were going. "Bobby's."

"Oh," she replied softly. "Is that far away?"

"Far enough. You ready to talk yet?" Sarah took a deep breath. She still had no idea what she was going to say, especially considering the mood Dean was in. Should she just lay it all out? God knows she would boot anyone who tried to feed her such a crazy story and head for the nearest police station. But then again, given Dean's background he would probably be more open minded, unless he just stabbed her with a sliver knife to stay on the safe side. She gave him an apprehensive glance out of the corner of her eye, to find him looking at her intently waiting for her answer. She blew out her breath, "Ok, the thing is I've been dreaming about you for the last couple of months."

He threw her a smirk, "I do have that affect on people, but I find that hard to believe Sister. We've never met before."

"No," she said shaking her head, "I mean I've been dreaming about you in hell. Every few nights I'd go to sleep and see you laid out while they… Anyway, I could never reach you and then last night it was like something popped and I was right beside you and then…" she waved her hand, gesturing to the two of them.

Dean only raised his eyebrows and Sarah groaned putting her face in her hands, "Trust me I know how crazy this sounds. I'm not a monster and I'm not the least bit supernatural. This is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me."

Dean sighed, "Me too. And trust me when I say that's saying something."

Sarah peaked up at him through her fingers smiling softly. "Oh no Princess, don't give me that look. You're still getting the holy treatment and if you're not who you say you are I will kill you." He paused for a second, " And just for the record, you are strange." For some reason that only made Sarah's smile wider.

###

To say Sarah was traumatised by their arrival at Bobby's was an understatement. She stood pressed up against the front door as the two of them grappled with a very sharp silver knife. It wasn't until Dean had sliced his own arm with the knife and Bobby had doused him in holy water that he seemed to accept that it really was Dean. Her eyes misted as she watched the two hug, only to tense up as Bobby's eyes focused on his extra guest. "Who's the skirt?"

"The next in line. Come on sweetheart, moment of truth." Dean beckoned her over with one hand, the knife in the other. Sarah shuffled forwards slowly; she hated needles, let alone the idea of someone carving on her with a knife. But she knew it had to be done if they were ever going to trust her. So she extended her arm, pleased that it only shook slightly. She looked away, a trick she'd always felt helped with needles, and felt a sharp sting before Bobby pressed a glass of what she assumed was holy water into her hands. She downed it quickly before looking up at the two men expectantly.

###

Dean felt something unclench as Sarah swallowed the holy water and no smoke rose off her. He hadn't realised how much he wanted someone to be on the level for once. Not that this was a sure sign she was telling the truth, but hell, at least she wasn't a demon. He sat quietly to the side as Sarah explained how she and Dean had found themselves on this side of hell, her clear brown eyes broadcasting her confusion. Dean was good at reading people and everything about the girl's voice, expression and body language said she was telling the truth. Bobby's face clearly said that he was sceptical that Miss 5 ft nothing had managed the jailbreak, but when he turned to Dean he shrugged. They'd both seen weirder things. He was more worried about all the empty bottles littering the desk.

"What's with the Liquor store Bobby?"

"It's been a rough couple of months," was the only reply he got. Not that it needed any greater explanation. The conversation quickly turned to Sam. Dean couldn't believe Bobby had let him go off half cocked and not keep tabs on him. It made him feel sick to think of all the trouble Sam could be getting into while trying to find a way into hell. That was one good thing about Sarah's arrival; at least they knew no demon had snapped up Sam's soul just yet. He made a quick call to a phone company they used and tracked down Sam's cell. Picking up his keys he looked at Sarah who'd crumpled into one of Bobby's dusty chairs. She looked tired and overwhelmed, but he didn't have time to fuss over some civie, he had to find his brother. "Come on Princess, time to go." She offered him a game smile and headed back outside. He still didn't know how to take her, he'd dragged her ass around all day, snapping and growling but she'd held up well and not complained or demanded anything once. Definitely a weird chick.

Within 15 minutes she'd fallen asleep in the back seat. Bobby looked at her in the rear-view mirror and then turned to Dean. "So, what're you going to do with her?"

"No freaken idea." He said rubbing his face. "I guess if nothing else happens in the next few days we'll send her home."

"Just buy her a ticket for Australia, cause I'm assuming that's what her accent is."

"Guess so," Dean had thought she'd sounded funny. They rode in comfortable silence for a while.

"Glad to have you back son."

"Good to be back."

###

Someone shook her shoulder and a gravelly voice said, "Hey Sleeping Beauty, time to get up." Sarah looked up groggily into Dean's handsome face. Wow what a wake up. Sarah suddenly remembered where she was and stretched, trying to covertly check for drool. Man she hoped she hadn't been snoring. "Where are we?"

"Illinois, I've just got to get my brother." Sarah smiled gently picking up on his excitement, as she got out of the car. The three of them entered the somewhat seedy motel and after checking with the front desk headed to room 207. But it wasn't Sam who answered the door; it was a seriously hot girl in her underwear. "You don't look like pizza." She said looking annoyed at the intrusion. _Which if you were spending the night with Sam Winchester I guess you would be _Sarah acknowledged. Sam appeared and Sarah watched the three of them tousle as Dean's brother tried to kill him. _Bloody hell _if this is the standard greeting Sarah was glad beyond words Dean hadn't simply tried to kill her when they'd first met. The girl was pressed against the door and Sarah could only offer her a sympathetic shrug.

Sarah nearly cried as the brothers hugged. She couldn't help but think how pissed Jade would be to miss this. She also couldn't help burst out laughing when the girl asked if the boys were together. Sarah shook her head, still grinning, "They're just brothers. They haven't seen each other in a while."

"Oh, ok. I better go anyway." Sarah looked on in amazement as Sam blew off his one night stand, even forgetting the poor girl's name. _Ouch _on second thought Jade would probably be traumatised to watch her Sam act like a jerk. Sam closed the door to a terse silence. Sarah was actually surprised at how awkward it was. _Dean's just gotten back from hell, you'd think they'd be having a party._

"Have you done it?" Dean finally asked.

Sam smirked as he tied his shoelaces, "Just the twice."

"You know what I'm talking about! Did you have anything to do with busting me out?"

"I wish I had," Sam began defiantly. Dean grabbed his by the shirt and made to yell in his face, when Sarah leapt from the couch and latched onto his arm. "He's right Dean. I have no idea how I did it, but I'm positive Sam had nothing to do with it."

"That's not the point," he started.

"No, the point is that he missed you and would have done anything to have you back, the end. Now let's just move on, we've got bigger things to worry about." Sarah and Dean eyeballed each other before Dean finally let go. Sarah let go of Dean's arm as well as the breath she'd been holding and quickly returned to the couch before they could notice how much her legs were shaking.

"She's right," Sam said as the two stepped back from each other.

"I know Sammy, I'm just glad it didn't come to that."

Sam went to the fridge before offering each of them a beer. Sarah grabbed hers with a grateful smile that Sam faintly echoed. She wasn't usually into beer, but at this point she would take anything. It seemed that Sam was in town chasing some demons that had turned up not long after Dean had come out of the ground. "Could the demons have blown up the gas station?"

"Beats me Sweetheart," Dean sighed.

"What would the point be?" Sam chimed in, "If the demons were pissed about you getting out, why the sound show? Why not just kill you both?" Nobody seemed to have an answer.

"I know a psychic." Bobby said finally, "A damn good one too." With that Sam grabbed his gear and they left.

Bobby let them know it would take four hours to reach the psychic and Sarah grinned at Dean's excitement on getting to drive his car again. She had to admit, as she opened the passenger door of Bobby's car, it was a fine ass car. As she went to get in she felt a hand clamp down on her arm, "And where do you think you're going Sweetheart?"

She looked in confusion from Dean to Sam and back again. "I figured you'd want to ride together. To, you know, catch up."

"We can catch up just fine with a stowaway along for the ride," he answered propelling her towards the Impala's backseat.

"But…"

"But nothing Princess, just because you didn't start smoking back at Bobby's doesn't mean you're part of the Scooby Gang, which means you don't leave my sight.

Sarah's eyes narrowed and she felt a flicker of anger that only got brighter as she took in Dean's impassive expression. "The name's Sarah. Not Sweetheart or Princess or any of the other oh-so-cute nicknames you've come up with since I crash-landed in the Twilight Zone. And personally I think I've been pretty good about all this, considering I didn't ask for any of it. I haven't complained or cried or gotten hysterical, despite the high level of explosions or knife fights I've witnessed in the last 12 hours. "

"Duly noted, now get in Sweetheart."

"Argh!" Sarah huffed into the backseat, wondering how she'd never realised how much of a dick he was while watching the show.

###

Sam was eying Dean, "Bit harsh don't you think."

"She'll get over it," He said with a dismissive shrug. He knew he hadn't handled her very well, but something was telling him to keep her close. He knew she hadn't told them everything and until she did he wasn't letting her out of his sight. He pushed the thought aside as he focused on sliding into his baby, "Did you miss me?" His eyes narrowed on the electro junk jammed into the radio. "Dude what the hell is this?"

"An IPod jack," Sam said with a pleased look on his face.

"I said look after her, not douche her up."

Sam looked mildly offended, "Dean I thought it was my car."

Shaking his head he started the car to some easy listening garbage. He looked at Sam in disgust, "Really?" He grabbed the IPod and chucked it into the back.

"Hey!" Sarah cried out as it narrowly missed her. Dean couldn't keep back a smirk as he roared out of the parking lot. It felt good to be back.


	4. Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Sarah was still fuming in the back seat a good hour into the trip. True to his word he'd ignored her and instead grilled Sam about how he'd gotten away from Lilith and whether or not he'd been using his ESP mojo. Sarah thought he was being a little harsh but, relegated to the back seat, she doubted Dean could care less what she thought.

"So," she started after a particularly strained pause, "What else have you been getting up to Sam?"

He looked at her in the rear-view mirror and smiled gratefully. "Oh this and that, mostly just picking up cases in the area. It hasn't been all too busy lately. There was this one cult that gave me some trouble in Indiana. They'd invoked a fertility Goddess and were picking up female travellers and ripping off their…" He trailed off at the horrified look on Sarah's face. "Anyway, one stake made from ancient Ashwood later and the backwoods of Marion are safe again. Other than that there was a haunting in Arkansas and a couple of possessions in Mississippi. Not much else to tell."

"Damn idiot going off on your own."

Both Sam and Sarah ignored him. "What about you? These hell dreams really your first supernatural experience?"

Sarah smiled at his unintentional pun. "Definitely. Although I did go through a Wiccan phase at thirteen." She made a face, "I made a sucky witch."

"Love spells never worked, huh?"

She sighed dramatically, "Daniel Bradley remained blissfully unaware of the fact he'd been cursed to fall in love with me forever." The two of them grinned at each other.

"So," Dean cut in, apparently getting tired of being ignored. "Where are you from anyway?"

"Brisbane, Australia. It's.."

"I know where it is."

Sam looked at him in surprise. "You do?"

Dean flashed him a superior look. "Course I do it's near…" Dean paused clearly raking his brain for an Australian town he'd heard of, "Sydney."

Sarah just smiled at him, "More or less."

He flashed her a knowing smirk. "Crocodile Dundee territory right? And you ride kangaroos to school and eat BBQ every night."

Sarah burst out laughing, "Definitely! We also have pet koalas and keep crocodiles in our pools." The three of them spent the rest of the trip swapping crazy exaggerations about Australia and America. Although in their case the gun totting American ones seemed to apply.

###

The psychic was not what Sarah had pictured. She was thinking more along the lines of Zelda Rubinstein from the Poltergeist, but she should have known better. Pamela Barnes was older but still definitely hot. She watched her interact with Dean wondering if they'd have to give the pair some alone time after she finished looking in her crystal ball. "And you must be Sarah," Sarah cringed inside as Pamela focused on her; sure she looked twice a tired and dirty as she felt, which was a lot. "You know what boys? I think we need a time out." She took Sarah's hand and headed up the stairs."

Sarah caught the look on Dean's face. "You know what it's fine…"

"Nah, you guys got here quicker than I thought and I need to clean up first."

_Not if hot and ready for sex isn't the look you were going for__. _Sarah pushed the unkind thought away, Pamela was just being nice and she would kill for shower.

Pamela was actually really nice and funny and despite Sarah being a head shorter the borrowed jeans and t-shirt fit pretty well. They wandered back down the stairs 40 minutes later, laughing as Pamela told her another story about one of her regulars.

Dean looked up impatiently and opened his mouth, but thankfully Bobby got there first and cut off what would have probably been mildly insulting. "So, any news from the spirit world?"

"Well something's got them in a flutter," Pamela said with an excited grin. "Apparently someone or something's punched through the veil."

"The veil?" Sam asked.

"Mmm," Pamela gestured with her hands, "It's the invisible barrier the separates our world, the spirit world and…others."

"Others?"

"There are many other realms Sam." She indicated to Sarah, "I think they're talking about our little jumper here."

Dean glared at Sarah, "I thought you said you were from Australia."

"I am! Just…"

"Just what!" He barked.

Sarah sighed, "Just not your one." Sarah could almost feel him withdrawing from her, categorising her as _just another monster._ "I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how to explain it." They were all staring at her now. "Where I'm from there is no magic or monsters." She thought for a second, "At least I don't think there is. Anyway there is a TV show about two brothers Sam and Dean Winchester who hunt monsters, my friend and I watch it." If possible Dean's look became even harder. "Everything else I said is true, I'm just from a little farther than I let on."

The boys were staring at her in disbelief, but Pamela was grinning at her like she'd just gotten an A+ on an exam. "You are a rare thing Sarah. Some people are gifted enough to glimpse other worlds but to actually break through. Wow."

Sarah shook her head not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea. "Trust me it's not a regular thing. I have no idea how I did it." She paused for a second, "Do you think I can get back?"

Pamela shrugged, "Who knows. To get here you must have had some powerful motivation." Without meaning to Sarah's eyes tracked to Dean making Pamela laugh.

She blushed furiously, "It's definitely not what you're thinking. It was a total accident!" For some reason her protest only seemed to make Dean look angrier.

"That still doesn't tell us what blew up the gas station," Bobby pointed out and Sarah could have kissed him for the diversion.

"Now that I haven't been able to get any info on. All the spirits I've spoken to don't have a clue. I was thinking we'd try a séance."

"We don't want to summon the damn thing here."

"Don't worry Bobby," she said linking her arm through his and leading him into the next room. "I just want to sneak a peek."

###

"I'm game," Dean practically growled as he strode after them, leaving Sarah and Sam to bring up the rear. There was a dull roar in his ears and he wanted to put his fist through the nearest wall. First the bitch gets caught out lying and then he finds out she hadn't meant to save him in the first place. He took deep breaths and tried to calm down. What was his problem? He'd just met the girl, who cared whether or not she'd met to drag his ass out. He was out and that was all that mattered.

As she set up Dean noticed Pamela had a tattoo on her lower back, _Jesse Forever. _Another day he would have said something crude, testing the waters, but he couldn't seem to summon up the urge to flirt with the cougar. _A TV show? Seriously dude_ he didn't know whether he was flattered or offended. Sarah hadn't elaborated and he hadn't been able to bring himself to ask. _Later _he told himself. Once they figured out who was out to get them he'd find out how to dump her ass back in LaLa Land and forget she ever happened.

Once Pamela was ready they settled around a small table. Dean looked up to find Sarah eying the spirit markings on the table with apprehension. _Good _he was glad she was scared.

"Now hold hands everyone," Pamela directed, "And I need to hold Hellboy here." She squeezed his thigh.

"Woah! Why've you got to touch that?" He was all for hotties getting handsy but he liked a heads up first.

She chucked at him, giving him an inviting look, "My mistake." Her hand settled on his arm and with that she got down to business, trying to coax the thing out. Dean peaked out of one eye as nothing seemed to be happening. Just then the table began to shake and the TV and other electrical things whirred around them. Sarah's eyes shot open and she sent Dean a frightened look. Soon Pamela was the only one with her eyes closed, a look of intense concentration on her face as she commanded the spirit to show her its face.

"Castiel," she murmered, "Sorry I don't scare that easy.

"Castiel?" Dean echoed.

"His name, he's trying to warn me away." She said quickly, clearly enjoying herself.

Dean had a bad feeling where this was going. "Maybe we should stop," Bobby said, clearly worried.

"Bobby's right. I don't like this," Sarah seconded as she started to let go of Pamela's hand.

Pamela's hand clamped down harder, "No! I've almost got him. I command you to show me your face now!" The flames of the candles leapt into the air as she began to scream. Dean watched in horror as she opened her eyes and they burned in her sockets.

###

Sarah was going to throw up. She felt the vomit at the back of her throat, choking on it as she struggled to swallow it back down. _This is not a TV show _was all she could think, over and over again, as she watched Bobby gently lay Pamela on the floor. She could hear Pamela crying that she couldn't see and Bobby yelling for an ambulance but it all seemed muffled like she was underwater. She stood at the table frozen. And then Dean was in front of her yelling at her to either help or get out of the way. She took a deep breath, "What do you need?"

He gave her a long look and then nodded. "Kitchen. Get a bowl, cold water and a towel." Sarah gave a jerky nod and took off. The rest passed as a blur. She remembered the ambulance coming to take Pamela away and Bobby going with her. She heard him ordering the rest of them to stay put and wait for a phone call, but it was all hazy and out of focus. She was the only one left in the room when she noticed what a mess it was. She started picking up the candles and put them back in the cupboard and folded up the tablecloth with all the weird symbols on it. She was just pushing the table back to the side of the room when Dean walked through the door. She didn't even notice him.

"What are you doing?" When she didn't answer Dean strode up to her and grabbed her arms. "What are you doing?"

Sarah looked up at him helplessly, she couldn't speak. She knew if she opened her mouth than she would start screaming and she wouldn't be able to stop. Dean must have seen something in her face because with a soft, "Shit," he pulled her into his arms. Sarah clung to him, dragging in great heaving breaths as she tried to get herself under control. She didn't know how long they stood there for, but when her breathing went back to normal he took her hand and led her up the stairs. He paused at each door until he found a spare room and pushed her inside. Sitting her on the bed he knelt down in front of her. "It's going to be alright." She gave a shaky nod. "Now get some sleep." He walked out quietly closing the door behind him.

Sarah looked around the room with its homey brown and green décor and drew her knees up to her chest. It had finally sunk in; _this is not a TV show. _She rested her forehead on her knees and wept.


	5. Devil Woman

Sarah woke up the next morning with bloodshot eyes and a nose that would put Rudolph to shame. But, surprisingly, she felt a lot better. One blistering shower later and she was wandering down the stairs feeling almost human. She was still wearing the clothes Pamela had lent her yesterday because she'd felt funny borrowing a second outfit, considering the psychic had had her eyes melted on their account. She hadn't thought twice about using her mouth wash though. Another day without a toothbrush and Sarah was pretty sure her breath alone could take out whatever was hunting them, or at least make him rethink his nasty intentions.

Both of the boys were sitting in the kitchen and looked up as she came in. She smiled warmly at them, "Good morning."

The flash of worry she'd seen in Dean's eyes gave her a pleasant glow. No matter how much he growled at her, after last night she knew he cared at least a little what happened to her. "Any word on Pamela?"

Sam gave her a reassuring smile, "Bobby called about an hour ago. She's stable, but he's going to hang around until she'd out of surgery."

As Sarah nodded her stomach let out an impressive growl and Sam's smile got wider. "We were just about to head out. There's a diner around the corner from here."

"Really?" Sarah asked excited at the prospect of her first taste of America. "I've always wanted to go to one. They don't have them in Australia you know. Well?" she prodded when neither of them made a move, "Let's go." They shot each other a look of amusement and followed her out the door.

###

Dean was still teasing her when they walked through the door of _Johnny Mac's Homestyle Diner. _"I can't believe you're so excited about this," he said as the bell above the door chimed.

"It's not like winning the lotto excited," she explained, "more like I've found a forgotten 50 in my jacket pocket excited." Sam just laughed as he handed her a menu. "I don't know what to order," she gushed looking over the familiar and exotic items. "Stuffed French toast. What's it stuffed with? Oooh it says they have pie."

A cute waitress walked over to take their order. "Hello Floe," Sarah said brightly after reading her name tag, "What kind of pie do you have?" Floe rattled off an impressive list and Sarah looked at Dean at a loss what to pick. He took charge with an amused look, "We'll have three slices of cherry pie thanks Floe. She wrote down their order with a friendly smile and assured them it would be up soon.

Sarah stilled as she realised she didn't have any money and cast a worried look at Dean. As if he could tell what she was thinking he shrugged his shoulders, "Don't worry about it."

"But I don't know if I can pay you back."

"I said, don't worry about it," he said shortly and rather than start an argument she couldn't win, seeing as she didn't have a cent to her name and no way of earning any, she thanked him with a grateful smile. She still wasn't exactly sure where they stood after yesterday, but if he was going to be nice she wasn't going to rock the boat.

The boys started to talk shop, which with them always seemed to end in an argument. Dean wanted to summon the eye melting spirit so they could fight it on their terms, whereas Sam wanted to find a group of demons he'd tracked to this area and squeeze them for info. While both options terrified Sarah, she could see the merit in them and suggested they spend a few days trying to locate the demons and if nothing came of that then they could summon the thing themselves. When Dean opened his mouth to protest she pointed out that it would give them a bit longer to research and try to find out what it was and how to kill it without anyone else getting hurt.

Dean grudgingly gave them two days as Floe returned with their pie and Sarah eagerly picked up her fork. However instead of leaving them Floe sat down opposite Sarah with a tight smile. _Surely she's not going to just hit one of them up. I know they're hot but seriously?_

"You angling for a tip?" Dean asked with an irritated smirk.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I thought you were looking for us." Her eyes turned black and Sarah thanked God she hadn't taken a bite of her pie, sure she would have sprayed it in the smug demon's face.

She looked up, noticing for the first time that there were only other two people in the dinner, the cook and a fat trucker, and saw that their eyes had also gone black. The trucker mover to the door and locked it and the three of them tensed as they realised that it wasn't going to be a friendly chat.

"Dean," the Floe-demon cooed, "To hell and back. Aren't you a lucky duck?"

"That's me," he said his lips twisting up but not really smiling.

"So you just get to stroll out of the pit huh? So tell me what makes you so special?" She seemed almost angry and Sarah supposed she was. Last season Ruby had said that demons fought hard, and often for centuries, to leave their fiery hole.

"I like to think it's because of my perky nipples," Dean said goading her and pointedly not looking at Sarah.

"Mind your tone boy; I'll drag you back to hell myself." Sam tensed and Sarah's eyes narrowed.

"Dean's a hero hell-bitch. He's spent his whole life saving people why shouldn't he be saved?" Sarah willed herself not to flinch as five sets of eyes focused on her.

"So the guardian angel speaks," Floe spat, "Did you think it would go unnoticed? That you could take what's ours and we wouldn't come for him and you?"

Sam moved as if to attack her but Dean waved him down. "But you haven't. Not you or whatever it is that's following us. I bet you don't even know what it is, only that it's bigger and badder than you and your bum-chums here. It's way out of your league Sister and you know better than to get in its way. Don't want to find yourself slow-roasting on a spit for eternity because you pissed off the boss-man."

"I'm going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs," she threatened. He gave her a calculating look and slapped her hard across the face. She just sat there with a look of banked fury on her face. He did it again for good measure and smirked, "Yeah that's what I thought. Let's go." Nobody stopped them on the way out.

"Holy crap that was close," Dean rasped as the three of them moved quickly across the street towards the car.

"Oh my God, I was terrified," Sarah breathed, but she was smiling as she said it. This was different than yesterday, nobody was hurt and she'd gotten to see Dean bitch-slap a demon.

Dean smiled back at her, "You did good in there Sweetheart."

"I think I need to sit down before my legs buckle or I faint. That was awesome though."

Sam didn't seem as impressed. "Those things are dangerous. We need to go back and take them out."

"Did you see how spooked they were Sammy? Whatever this thing is it's bigger than a couple of punk demons. One job at a time."

It wasn't until they were safely in that car that Sarah's heart climbed back down her throat. "So, what happens now?"

"Now we kill a few hours, wait for Bobby to get back and get ready for a summoning spell."

"Um," she started, "Do you think we could stop at a shopping centre first?"

"A mall?"

"Yes! A mall. You see I've only got one other outfit and as much as I like it…"

Dean took a sharp U turn that made Sarah glad she always wore a seatbelt and headed off in the other direction. Ten minutes later he was pushing a wad of bills in her hands and gesturing to an enormous shopping complex. "Just don't take too long," he said sharply. "We'll get some food and meet you back here."

Sam shook his head and smiled kindly at her. "Don't mind him, take your time."

###

Dean looked up in surprise when 40 minutes later Sarah was hurrying back towards them with her arms full of bags. She caught the look and grinned, "Don't worry I can take hours to pick out a pair of shoes. But," she shrugged, "You were waiting."

He grinned, "Good girl, we might keep you around yet." Sarah rolled her eyes but he could tell she wasn't offended. She just jumped in the back and demanded some food. He passed her the turkey sub and tried not to stare at her as he drove them to the nearest motel. He still didn't know how to take her. Yesterday he hadn't wanted anything to do with her, but after Pamela…she just seemed so broken and he'd heard her crying most of the night. God he hates it when they cry. He'd take a nest of vamps over one sobbing chick any day.

He had to admire how she'd handled herself with the waitress from hell. He hadn't met many civilians who wouldn't get hysterical after a run in like that. He guessed that time would tell if she was an double-crosser, a liability, or something else.


	6. One Way Ticket

Hotel Astoria was a fairly decent motel, clean and spacious with its dark wood panelling and beige furniture, the only letdown being the large mirrors on the ceiling. _Gross _she could only imagine what those poor things had seen. Sarah sat on one of the two beds leafing through a book on dangerous spirits and demons. They'd stopped at a pharmacy, a hardware store and one shop that had looked like something out of Harry Potter to get all the supplies they'd need to summon their spirit. Now there was nothing left to do but wait for Bobby. Knowing she couldn't rely on what she'd seen in past episodes alone, Sarah figured that as long as she was stuck here she may as well bone up on her supernatural lore. Dean had fallen asleep an hour ago on the couch, a big musty book on his lap, while Sam had been pacing around for the last 40 minutes as if he had something to do.

"You hungry?" He asked suddenly, making Sarah jump. She'd just been focusing on an entirely too creepy picture of a demon carving up some medieval chick.

"No thanks, I'm good." Sam looked frustrated, prompting her to add, "You can go grab something if you're hungry. I mean I'll probably be hungry later.

Sam gave her a big smile, "That's a great idea." He grabbed the keys, "I'll go see what's around."

"Ok, be careful," Sarah said feeling bewildered at his enthusiasm. _Sometimes guys were so strange_.

Sarah finally shut the book, intending to get some sleep herself, when she felt the room vibrate and the TV flicked on. The low pitch whine started and she clamped down hard on her ears trying to block it out. She looked over at Dean who had rolled to his feet and was doing the same. The noise grew louder and louder until it felt like her head was going to explode. She screamed silently as the mirrors above them shattered. Dean launched himself at Sarah throwing them both out of the way of an enormous, falling shard.

She looked up into his worried green eyes. "You're bleeding," she said raising a hand to his ear.

"You are too," he said grimly before looking around. "Where's Sam?"

"Don't worry, he went to get some food a while ago."

"We can't wait," he said flipping his phone open and dialling a number. "Hey Bobby, I need you to pick us up. We need to get this sucker now." He hung up without saying goodbye and started gathering their supplies.

"What about Sam?"

He dismissed her with a shake of his head, "He'd only bitch about the danger." She looked around the trashed apartment thinking it looked plenty dangerous to her, but quickly scrambled to her feet to help.

As the three of them drove to a secluded spot to perform the ritual Bobby tried to talk Dean out of doing it before they'd done more research, but Dean was determined. He seemed to think that between the demon-killing knife and the arsenal in the trunk, it wouldn't be a problem. Sarah was close to terrified but she trusted Dean. She knew he wouldn't be sending them into a hopeless fight, at least she hoped he wouldn't.

###

The barn Bobby had chosen was old and abandoned and looked entirely too rickety with all of those holes in the roof. She was actually surprised how quickly they covered the inside of it with protection symbols. She only hoped that she'd copied her ones out of the book right. Considering she'd never fired a gun before Dean had armed her with an iron bar and a wicked looking silver knife. She clasped both of them tightly in her sweaty hands hoping she wouldn't only get in the way.

She watched with interest as Bobby sprinkled something pungent into the silver bowl and muttered something that sounded like Latin, _not that she knew how to speak Latin, _as he performed the ritual. She tensed as the mixture smoked and glanced nervously around the room. Nothing sinister jumped out of the shadows and she looked to Booby, "How long does it take?"

"Damned if I know," he sighed as he picked up his sawn-off.

20 minutes later Sarah was starting to feel hopeful that the mysterious nasty wouldn't make an appearance. Dean was sitting on one table swinging his legs impatiently as she and Bobby leaned against another. Just as he'd begun to harass Bobby for the third time about whether or not he'd done the spell right the iron panels on the roof began to slap in an unnatural wind. The three of them jumped to attention as the lights exploded around them and the barn doors were thrown open. Castiel, or at least she assumed it was Castiel, stared at them impassively as he walked through the protection glyphs and under the sparking lights without flinching. The boys hesitated a moment before firing off round after round into him. It didn't even slow him down as he narrowed the gap between them. Dean stepped protectively in front of Sarah and said in a low voice, "get ready to run Princess."

Castiel sidled up to them and Sarah saw that Dean had tucked the magic knife behind his back. "Who are you?" Ha asked hoarsely.

Castiel stared at him intently, "I am the one that would see you remain safe from perdition."

"Isn't that nice?" He growled and Sarah squeaked as Dean plunged the knife into his heart. Castiel only looked casually from his knife embedded chest and back to Dean before pulling it out with a wet pop, dropping it to the ground. Sarah couldn't move _we are seriously screwed here. _Just then Bobby came in from the side and cracked him in the head with a crowbar. If anything Castiel only looked slightly annoyed, causing Bobby to take a hasty step back. He turned back to Dean and Sarah, "I need to talk, alone." He raised a figure to Bobby's forehead and he…the only way she could describe it was...swooned.

Sarah quickly knelt next to Bobby and felt for a pulse. Feeling it beat strongly against her fingers she looked up at Dean and nodded wordlessly. Returning to his side the two of them watched as Castiel flipped through Bobby's notebook. He didn't look anything like Sarah had imagined. He wasn't slick, all dressed up in black and leather, he looked more like a windblown loan officer, making house calls on some bank's behalf.

"Who are you?" Dean repeated.

"I'm Castiel," he said simply not even bothering to get up.

Dean glared, "Yeah I figured that much. I meant what are you?"

Castiel finally paused and looked back towards Dean, "I am an angel of the Lord." Sarah didn't know what to say and apparently neither did Dean. _Holy moley__,__ an angel? That's a little left field even for Supernatural. _If anything Dean looked offended, "Get out of here," he rasped, "There's no such thing."

Castiel gave Dean a long look, "That's your problem Dean. You have no faith." He looked over Dean's shoulder at Sarah, "She believes."

Dean shot a condemning glare at her. "What?" She said defensively, "So I believe in angels. Doesn't mean I think he's one." But even as she said it something told her he was telling the truth. As if in response lightning flashed and a pair of shadowy wings appeared behind Castiel. All the while he stood there patiently waiting for them to accept it.

"Some angel you are," Dean said finally, "You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

Castiel looked down apologetically, "I warned her not to look at my true form. It can be.." He paused searching for the right word, "Overwhelming to most humans. So can my true voice. You already knew that."

"So the gas station and the motel, that was you talking?" he asked in disbelief and Castiel nodded gravely. "Buddy, next time lower the volume."

"And why aren't we melting in your angelic presence?" Sarah asked.

He looked down at himself almost proudly, "This is a vessel."

Dean was appalled, "You're possessing some poor bastard?"

"This was a devout man," Castiel protested, "He prayed for this."

"And why are you here, why now?"

"Because Dean Winchester, God has a plan for you. But you," he looked back at Sarah, "you were not a part of that plan. You disrupt our work and your continued presence here," he paused again, "it muddies our perception and we cannot read the future."

Sarah was at a loss, "I'm sorry. I could go back if you want."

He shook his head dismissively, "No you cannot. You did not come here on your own but received assistance from above. There is a purpose to your presence that eludes me, but you will remain until you complete your task."

"What task?" She asked helplessly.

Castiel remained unmoved, "You will know when it is done." And with a fluttering sound he was gone.

###

Sarah sat in an overstuffed recliner in Bobby's lounge room. They'd arrived back that afternoon and she's been shown to a guest room on the second floor. A guest room…it seemed that she was going to be their guest for the unforeseeable future. The trip back had been quiet with both Sarah and Dean having a lot to think about. Sam had seemed to read the mood and left them to their thoughts. As she'd unpacked her newly bought clothes and toiletries she could still hear Bobby grumbling downstairs. Apparently what had bothered him the most was the fact that the angel had made him 'faint'.

Now the boys were closeted in Bobby's study deciding what their next move would be and Sarah had nothing left to do. She was still thinking about the 'task' Castiel had mentioned. She had no idea what it was she was supposed to do, as far as she knew she had no special abilities. She wasn't even able to punch through the veil, seeing as she'd been let in the back door by who knows what. Somewhere in the house a clock chimed 5 and her stomach growled. Well at least she could make dinner. Looking in the kitchen that was messy bordering on filthy she could see that there weren't many options. But she mentally rolled up her sleeves, relived to finally have a job that she felt she could handle.

###

An hour and a half later, the boys emerged from the study to the smell of something delicious cooking. The kitchen was sparkling, the table was set and Sarah was over by the stove stirring something in a stock pot. She looked up and smiled at them, "Sorry Bobby, I hope you don't mind. I figured I should wrangle some dinner."

Dean didn't listen to Bobby's reply as he eagerly parked himself at the table. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten a home cooked meal. _20 years give or take _he thought thinking of his fiery holiday. "I hope spaghetti is ok," Sarah said as she ladled steaming pasta and red, meaty sauce onto his plate. He made an appreciative noise and then dug in. _God_ he thought _this is it_, this was the first time he'd felt right since leaving the pit. He heard the others talking around him but didn't join in, instead focussing solely on his food. He didn't look up until his plate was clean, only to find Sarah eying him with an almost nervous expression. He offered her his empty plate with a grin, "Got any more?" She gave him a wide smile back and as she walked back to the stove to fill his plate for the second time he couldn't help but admire the way her new jeans hugged her ass.

Sam caught him staring and he shrugged. _Hey, Quantum Leap may be off limits but a guy can look right?_ As she set another heaped plate in front of him he decided that keeping her around might not be so bad after all.

#########################################################

Phew! That's it I'm finally through the intro and can get into the main story. I have a new found respect for anyone who writes these things, they take freakin' ages. I don't want to just recap the episodes plus one, but I do want to still follow the main cannon so I think I'll try a combination and see how that goes. Thanks everyone who's stuck with me so far. Please review and tell me if you like it, or don't, so far.


	7. Caravan

Author's Note: Before you read this chapter please know that I have never been to America before so all of my factual info is from movies and the internet. I apologise in advance for any mistakes regarding distances, what the towns are really like etc.

########################################################

The last two weeks things had fallen into a comfortable pattern. Sam and Dean spent their days looking for new hunts and helping Bobby, as there always seemed to be something around the scrap-yard to do and Sarah spent her mornings cleaning and the afternoons studying the many books in the study. None of them seemed to mind her presence and were more than pleased that she and taken over the washing and cooking. She wondered when the last time was that someone had taken care of them. Each of them seemed to need a little mothering in one way or another. They often wore smiling faces, at least Sam and Dean did, and Dean even more than Sam; but she could feel a sadness and almost desperation just below the surface. They tried to ignore it but she could see it lingering behind their jokes and it broke her heart. She'd decided that even if it was only with little things she would try to ease their load as much as possible.

_Whatever else, _she thought as she pushed a book back onto the shelf, _I've learnt more about shapeshifters and djinns than I ever thought I'd need to. _She gave the bookcase an assessing look _werewolves or yuurei? _She thought of The Grudge _definitely yuurei. I do not want to get cornered by one of those things and no know what to do._

As she settled into an overstuffed armchair she heard someone come behind her. "I wouldn't be too worried about those," Sam said over her shoulder, "You don't really see them this far west."

"Can't be too careful," Sarah said absorbed in an unnecessarily detailed picture of a long haired woman crawling towards a terrified man. Sam settled down in front of her, "Finished working on the car?" Sam just nodded as he stretched out his back. Sarah smiled at him, "You're good to help out so much."

"Please," he said with a grin, "He'd kick our asses if we didn't. You don't have to though. Do so much around here I mean." He clarified at her confused look.

She smiled, "I like to be useful and I love to cook, so it's no trouble."

"You settling in ok?" He asked in a more serious tone.

"You've all been great about it. I miss my family and friends but.." She shrugged.

"We are looking for a way to send you back," he reassured her.

"It's ok they're not going anywhere," she said still smiling as Dean walked through the door and slide into the couch next to Sam.

"So…what's for dinner?"

"Lasagne my bottomless pit, it's in the oven."

"Yes!" He cheered happily stretching out his legs. Sarah smiled indulgently at him, this was the one the one rotten thing about being here. As much as she was loving getting to actually hang out with the Winchesters, the more time she spent with Dean, the more attached she was becoming to him. He'd never looked sideways at her though, which was lucky because she was sure she would offer little to no resistance. He seemed adept at walking away from girls without looking back, but if they did hook up Sarah instinctively knew she wouldn't be the same. But it was fine, all she had to do was hold it together, finish her 'task' and pray no one caught her drooling.

###

Dean sighed in contentment and patted his belly. Like Sarah had said the food she cooked wasn't fancy, but it was damn good. She was at the sink now doing dishes and Sam, ever the suck-up, was helping her. She looked soft and feminine in a flowing floral skirt and a bright yellow top. She really wasn't that good looking, just moderately pretty with an average figure. It irritated him that he'd spent so much time lately thinking about her. There was just something calming about her presence and he often found reasons to be where she was during the day.

She was laughing softly at something Sam had said and splashing bubbles at him and Sam the douche was lapping up the attention. "I found a hunt," he said suddenly, pleased when they both tensed and turned towards him. "Two men in Morris, Minnesota have drowned to death in their homes in the last two weeks. Neither of them were taking a bath at the time."

"Think it's a haunting?"

Dean shrugged, "I say we dust off my baby and check it out." He could see the question in Sarah's eyes, whether or not he was going to leave her at Bobby's. It was dangerous, she was a distraction, 50 other reasons he should leave her behind went through his mind as he heard himself say, "Pack your bags sweetheart." Her smile was blinding and he told himself firmly that it was not the reason he said she could come. He could care less if she was happy or not, he just wanted to keep an eye on her.

Bobby gave him a calculating look, "You sure about this."

"Don't worry," Sam said confidently, "We'll take care of her." _I bet you will_ Dean thought sourly. Sam had been far too considerate the last two weeks, asking if she was alright with those big, puppy dog eyes, taking her to the supermarket for supplies. This was not the time to get touchy feely, they needed to stay focused and they both needed to keep their distance.

"Well come on then," Bobby grumbled pushing himself up from the table. "Better give you another shooting lesson before these two idjets drag you into the middle of who knows what."

Sarah bounced after him. "And no skirts!" Dean yelled. Yep, he was in total control here.

###

Sarah couldn't help but feel excited as they drove to Morris. She'd always loved travelling back home, going to new small towns. Although they were all very similar they all seemed to have something that the others don't. As the miles clicked over on the interstate she told them about her family, who she still lived with, and her little brother and sister. She talked about going to university and spending weekends on the Gold Coast and its theme parks. Finally the one topic she'd been dreading came up.

"So…" Sam started, "A TV show?"

Sarah winced, "Yep. Like CSI or Buffy, it's just you and Dean doing your thing."

Sam looked uncomfortable, "Is it graphic."

"Um…" She said not sure how much to tell them. She knew it made them uncomfortable and God knew she'd be mortified if it was her. "It's not like the Real Life or anything; each episode usually revolves around you solving a case. Like The woman in white who'd killed her kids or the vampires who'd gone good."

"And this is popular?"

"Oh yeah, it's pretty popular."

"So…" Dean asked smirking into the rear view mirror, "There many fan girls?"

She smiled back at him, "Loads."

He chucked looking incredibly pleased with himself. "Who's more popular, me or Sammy?"

"I think there's a pretty even ratio of Dean-girls and Sam-girls," she laughed.

"And what were you? A Dean-girl or a Sam-girl."

Sarah went bright red, "I don't know." Definitely not wanting to tell him how much of a thing she'd had for him. "I guess I liked you both," She said and then squeaked realising how that sounded. "What I meant was," she backpedalled, "You weren't real, just TV characters." Sarah looked up to see both of them twisted in their seats grinning at her. She whimpered dropping her hot face into her hands, "I'm never going to live this down am I?"

Dean smirked at Sam, "I think our little Slider's been crushing on us."

"Not since meeting the real you," she grumbled through her fingers.

###

They drove straight through to Marion and it was as fun as she'd imagined it would be. They teased each other, ate greasy food and sang along to old rock songs. Sam and Dean had both taken turns driving, Sarah had offered but Dean hadn't even bothered to reply. So instead she'd napped in the backseat and was feeling fairly refreshed despite the 12 or so hours of travel. Even so she was relieved when they arrived so she could stretch her legs and go to the bathroom. After the way Dean had complained the first time she didn't ask him to stop any more than was absolutely necessary.

They had arrived just after seven so there wasn't much the boys could do until tomorrow. Sam had researched the town as much as he could with his computer during the drive, but apart from the two deaths it didn't seem as if anything else supernatural had occurred in the town. Dean took them straight to a basic motel and booked them a room. It wasn't until she'd set her bag down and looked from the two single beds to the two armchairs that she realised they had a problem. "Um guys, not to sound like a girl but where are we going to sleep?"

Dean looked at Sam and after an instant of brotherly understanding they did scissors, paper, rock. Dean lost. "Looks like you're sleeping with me," he said quickly as he dumped his stuff next to hers on the bed.

"But…"

"No buts. Now get your girly shit sorted while Sammy and I go find us something to eat." He strode out the door, leaving an apologetic Sam standing by the other bed.

"Look if you're worried I can sleep on the floor."

No no," she insisted as she took a deep breath. "It's fine, really."

"Sammy!"

Sam rolled his eyes and headed out the door. "Lock the door and call us if you need anything. We'll be back soon," he called out over his shoulder.

Sarah looked down at the bed which now seemed even smaller. Spending the night in the same bed as Dean Winchester _Holy Moley she was in trouble._

###

Sam slide into the passenger seat and gave Dean an amused look. "I thought winning meant I got to sleep with her."

"Shut up Sammy."


	8. Rid Of Me

Sarah was the first to bed that night. She wanted to be firmly asleep, or at least for it to appear as if she was firmly asleep, long before Dean joined her. Sam was still sitting by the table and she could hear him quietly clicking away on the keyboard in the low light. She heard the shower turn off and the bathroom door open not too long after, but it felt like forever before she felt the bed dip and Dean slide in next to her. She forced herself to keep her breathing even and not tense up, which was harder than she thought it would be. She wondered if he wore a shirt to bed and then quickly tried to think of something else. Sarah was petrified to fall asleep, worried that she would roll into him, say his name as she slept or just snore. Each possibility was as embarrassing as the next and she prepared herself for a long night.

Sarah opened her eyes, what felt was a moment later, but the room was dark and silent and she realised she must have fallen asleep after all. She could just make out the swirled pattern on the wall in front of her which meant she hadn't moved _thank God_. She wondered what had woken her up, as she was generally an embarrassingly, heavy sleeper and tensed as she heard a soft whimper. She peaked over her shoulder at Dean who was asleep on his back, one hand thrown over his head and the other curled against his chest gripping the blanket. His face was tense and he would twitch every few seconds. When he gave a low moan she realised that he must be having a nightmare. Not sure how he would react she rolled over and put her hand in the one on his chest. "It's alright, you're out. They can't hurt you anymore," she whispered. His eyes flickered open and she was startled at how focused they were, "Thank you."

His eyes closed again and his breathing evened out, signalling his return to sleep. Sarah again felt rage building up inside of her. It only seemed more unfair now that they knew there were angels in the outfield, watching the game and doing jack-all about it. Surely they saw how hard they were trying. Couldn't they have cut them a break and given them a hand every now and then. She still couldn't believe they'd let Dean go to hell in the first place, it made her want to poke Castiel in the eye, maybe both eyes Marx Brothers style. She huffed still angry and made to roll back over when she realised Dean was still gripping her hand _shit. _She tried to gently pull her hand free only for him to tighten his hold. She sighed in defeat, not that she put up much of a fight and settled herself more comfortably before going back to sleep. Her last thought was that Dean did not wear a shirt to bed.

###

When Sarah opened her eyes again the room was bright and also suspiciously empty. She staggered to the table rubbing sleep from her eyes, to grab the note they'd left behind.

_Morning Bedhog,_

_Breakfast is in the fridge_

_Don't go anywhere _

_Back around lunch_

_D_

_Nice _she thought as she stretched the kinks out of her back. But at least things didn't seem weird so far. She looked at the bedside clock, surprised to see that it was already ten. She had a shower and changed into the mandated jeans and a blue, fitted top. Then with nothing else left to do she lazed around the room reading one of the supernatural books Bobby had lent her.

It was more like two when the boys finally came back and Sarah was going to complain about her grumbling belly, but they'd brought burgers back with them and both seemed too elated about the case. Apparently it was definitely supernatural as one of the victims, Tim Blackwell, had been found in his bed and the other, John Green, in his lounge room and the post mortem had found both of their lungs full of brackish water. Both the men had been in their early 20s, had lived in the town their entire lives and had graduated the same year from Morris High. Coincidentally the only other drowning to happen in the town for the last 50 years was Annabelle Grant who had died 2 years ago not long after graduation. She had also graduated with Tim and John.

"That's great," Sarah said smiling, "So what, you just dig her up, salt and burn her and see ya later Casper?"

"Mmmhm," Sam said his mouth full of burger, "We've got to interview the families and confirm some things, but it's looking good so far."

"So," Dean cut in s he dusted the crumbs off his hands, "We'll be back later. No parties, no booze and definitely no leaving the room."

"Not even a little sightseeing," she pleaded, "Just along the main street?"

He didn't even pause to consider it, "Nope. This is a small town, you'll blow our cover. What FBI agent brings his girlfriend on a case?" Sarah sighed and flopped back into her chair, he did have a point.

"Hey, buck up," he said in an overly sweet voice as he and Sam walked back out the door, "We'll buy you a T-shirt on the way back.

Sarah perked up, "They sell T-shirts here."

"Nope." She only wished he'd looked back just then because she was sure her glare was impressive.

###

Later that night Sarah lay belly-down on the bed swinging her feet in the air as she flicked through the year book Dean had swiped from one of the houses. It turned out that Tim and John had a best friend Jacob who had also been into the beautiful Annabelle. Sam had pointed the four of them out as he'd explained how inseparable the boys had been and how they'd publically competed for Annabelle's attention. The three boys were all pretty hot and there were quite a few pictures of them in the book. It made her sad to think that they'd died so young, but at least Sam and Dean would be in time to save the third one.

As she looked over the pictures of the boys smiling and clowning around, she got the uneasy feeling that something was wrong with the pictures. She looked at each one closely and saw that they all had the same girl somewhere in the background. She flipped to the back of the book, scrolling through the photos until she found her, Jane Hault. She looked pretty average with dark hair a nose that was a little too big for her face. Unlike the other photos, Jane's one didn't have any quotes or aspirations written underneath. Sarah stared hard at the picture, _Who are you Jane Hault?_

She tried to call Dean and then Sam but both calls went straight to their message bank. She told herself that she was being silly, the boys knew exactly what they were doing and after investigating they were positive the ghost was Annabelle. She knew it was nothing but she couldn't help but think the other girl had something to do with it. Determined she left the motel and headed for the grocery store, under the assumption that people who work at grocery stores know everyone.

The pretty, young girl behind the counter smiled as Sarah approached. "Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi," she said nervously, "I'm just visiting the area and wanted to look up an old friend. You don't happen to know where I could find Jane Hault do you?"

"Jane Hault?" The girl said in surprise, "I didn't know she had any friends." She realised what she'd said and flushed a dull red, "Sorry."

"It's ok."

"No I mean I'm really sorry but Jane moved away about two or three years ago."

"Oh," Sarah said disappointed, "Do you know where she went."

"No, but I do know she'd want to get as far away from here as she could." She leaned closer and in a sly voice said, "I was in the grade below Jane, but everybody used to laughed at the way she followed poor Jacob around. He never had eyes for anyone but Anny though. Guess she got sick of it and left." Sarah felt the ball of dread in the pit of her stomach tighten. "Speak of the devil," the girl continued and Sarah followed her gaze out the shopfront window as a more mature and haggard looking Jacob hurried past the store.

"Thank you for your help," Sarah said quickly and took off after him.

"Jacob!" She called out and he paused and turned, looking confused when he realised he didn't know her. "Jacob," she puffed as she closed the distance between them, "I need to talk to you."

"Look miss," he said tiredly putting up a hand, "I can see you know me somehow but now is really not a good time."

"It's about Jane Hault."

"Janey?" He said looking confused, "What could Janey have to do with anything?"

"She left town two years ago, yes?" She asked, "Do you know where she went?" Jacob shook his head. "Do you know anyone else who might know? Her family or a friend?"

He shook his head again, "As far as I know I was the last one to see her. She left straight after that."

Sarah latched onto his arm feeling that she was really onto something. "You've got to take me there!"

"Where?" He asked, looking pretty freaked out.

"To the last place you saw her."

"Look lady, I don't…"

"You've got to trust me!" She said urgently, "I'm with those two FBI agents and we think your life is in danger. It is very important that you take me to the last place you saw Jane Hault."

He looked down at her for a long minute as she tried her best to make an ernest rather than insane face and then sighed, "Alright. But you better not be crazy, I've had all the crazy I can take the last few weeks."

As they drove out in Jacobs pick-up she tried to call the boys again but there was still no reply. She settled for leaving a message on Deans phone, "It's Sarah I'm with Jacob and we're heading out to.." she looked at Jacob.

"The old well, it's at the end of Hemmington Drive."

She repeated the address, "It's not who we thought it was. You need to meet us there ASAP with anything you'll need."

She hung up to find Jacob staring at her nervously, "You're not armed are you."

_Dammit _she hadn't even thought of that. "You don't have something made out of iron do you?"

###

It turned out he did have a rusty crowbar. As he got it out of the back for her Sarah asked Jacob what had happened and he rubbed the back of his neck looking embarrassed. "She'd always had a thing for me, everybody knew it. Not long after graduation I guess she worked up the nerve to actually confess. She asked me to meet her out here; this is kind of the local make-out spot. Anyway I didn't want to get cornered on my own so I brought Tim and John with me. She was furious but still told me how in love with me she was and how happy we could be together. I tried to let her down gently but…" he shrugged helplessly as they moved towards the well. "She told me she couldn't live without me and if I didn't love her back she'd kill herself. I told her to go ahead and left."

He saw Sarah's appalled look, "It's not like she would have. She just left town, life goes on you know."

Sarah froze as she felt a freezing cold skate down her spine and her breath puffed out in front of her. "_Not for me!" _They both spun and behind them was a very pissed off looking Jane Hault. She flickered in front of them _Oh yep, definitely a ghost._

"_I loved you, I would have done anything for you. I knew you were in love with that stuck up bitch, but I thought if she were gone you would realise we were meant to be together. But you still didn't care. I killed myself for you and you didn't even notice!"_

She moved towards them getting more and more worked up. As soon as she was in range Sarah swung the crow bar but Jane disappeared and Sarah felt a blinding pain in her back.

"_You think you can take him away from me slut!"_ Sarah couldn't even breathe as she felt the ghost crushing her heart. There was a deafening bang and Sarah fell to her knees as the pressure vanished. She dragged in great, heaving gulps of air and willed herself not to faint as spots danced at the edges of her vision. Dean was suddenly in front of her, she could see his mouth moving as he yelled at her, but she could only make out bits and pieces of what he was saying over the ringing in her ears.

"…idiot! If you ever…I swear I'll…"

"Thank you," she said softly smiling. She'd never been so happy to see anyone in her entire life.

###

Sarah sat in the dirt nearby the well as Sam and Dean did their thing. Jacob was standing beside her. The poor guy hadn't said much since it happened and Sarah hopped he wasn't too emotionally scarred by the whole thing. She realised that the old well was actually a very pretty spot, with a nice view of the whole town. She could see why people came here to make-out.

The boys finally finished and headed over to them, but she'd hoped they'd take longer. She was holding her legs very tightly trying to stop the tremors that had started soon after Dean had deposited her here. She assumed she was in shock, but at least the ringing in her ears had gone away. Looking up at Dean's stern face Sarah braced herself for another angry lecture, but he only held out his hand to help pull her up.

As she dusted herself off she looked at the still shell-shocked Jacob. "It's ok, it's over now," she said and patted his arm gently.

"The moral of this story," Dean added as he led Sarah towards the Impala, "Is always keep your eyes on the crazy chick!"

15 minutes into the ride back Sarah finally gathered the nerve to ask, "So are you going to yell at me some more?"

"No."

She sighed, "You'll just never take me with you again will you."

He gave her a hard look in the rear-view mirror, "You ever going to pull a stunt like that again?"

"I don't plan on it. You going to leave your phone switched on?" She countered.

"After today…" He gave her a grim smile, "Always."

#####################################################################

Bleh so my first attempt at an original case, I hope it wasn't too unoriginal. Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing, I was surprised at how much it's motivating me to keep updating.

In responce to Amy90 Sarah did yank Dean out before he got knife happy in hell so the bad guys are going to have to come up with another way to break the first seal. It should give them some breathing space before everything goes to hell.


	9. Truth Hits Everybody

It turned out that Dean did leave her behind for their next hunt, it was some nest of vampires in Oregon that none of them wanted her within two states of. It was apparently a big deal as they took Bobby with them too. She was worried about all of them but made sure to give them a big smile as they left, promising them not to leave the house and to keep everything firmly salted until they got back. She figured the last thing they needed was to be worrying about her and resolved to keep out of trouble for the next few days. Dean had been a little touchy since her 'brush with death' and she didn't want to give him a reason to leave her behind for their more benign cases.

Sam called at least once a day to check she was ok and to keep herself busy all the time in between she threw herself into cleaning the big, old house. She made sure to stay clear of Bobby's room as well as anything that might have to do with his wife and also made sure not to touch any of the piles of books around the place as Bobby assured her they were part of a 'system'; the rest were fair game and so Sarah spent the next five days sweeping, dusting, scrubbing and polishing. Back home she'd always use cleaning as a way to avoid doing assignments and she used it now to avoid worrying about the boys.

On day four Sam called to say they were on their way back after successfully burning the nest and to expect them home around lunchtime. So Sarah was making the most of her last morning before Bobby got back and curbed her 'girly habits'.

###

Dean trudged up the porch steps with Sam and Bobby feeling as if he hadn't slept in a week. He'd pushed them hard to get back, worried about the trouble Sarah could have gotten into without him to sit on her. He took a moment to enjoy the mental picture that come with that thought before realising what he was doing. He almost ran into Bobby as he and Sam paused at the front door. Sam gave a low whistle as he looked in, "Bobby, I gotta say this is the first time I've felt the urge to take off my shoes before going inside."

"What's that damn girl done?"

"I think she polished the floor," Sam said helpfully.

Dean looked over Bobby's shoulder, it was pretty clean. "Hey, Cinderella!" He called out as they moved inside. There was no reply and he moved towards the back of the house where he could hear music playing. He found Sarah in the dining room at the top of a ladder cleaning a light fixture while some pop junk pounded out of the radio. She noticed him standing there and almost fell off the ladder in surprise. "Watch it!" He snapped moving forward to steady her with one hand on the ladder and the other on her leg. He told himself that he barely noticed the denim shorts hugging her hips or the long legs that he was seeing for the first time. _Since when did she have long legs? She's 5ft nothing. _"Dean!" She called out happily as she hurried down the ladder, "You're early. I wasn't expecting you for another few hours."

"We made good time," he said gruffly.

"Oh Dean you look terrible," she said taking in his battered face.

"Trust me they look worse," he said with a smirk.

A buzzer went off in the kitchen and Sarah grinned, "You're just in time."

It turned out she'd made them a pie, excited about their return home. Dean sat around the table with Sam and Bobby as she dished it up, fussing over their cuts and bruises and refused to acknowledge how much he'd missed her. He was growing dangerously addicted to her sunny presence and he wasn't the only one. The three of them had snapped and growled at each other the second day into the case, but you wouldn't know it watching them dig into the hot apple pie. It was like she smoothed out all their hard edges and made them feel proud to do what they did rather than just overwhelmed. Then again it was probably just the pie.

She's only been there about a month, but not the first time Dean wondered what it would be like after she left. Since alerting them to their presence there'd been no word from Castiel and his feathery assed buddies; there also seemed to be a drop in demon activity, as if they all had better things to do. Which suited Dean fine seeing as there were plenty of other nasties out there to deal with.

###

Something had happened. She had no idea what it could have been seeing as Dean hadn't left Bobby's house in the last three days, but something had definitely happened to him. She felt like he'd been opening up a little and slowly dealing with being 'back', but two days ago it was like he'd withdrawn into himself again. She knew Bobby and Sam had noticed too but neither of them had said anything and so Sarah had gone with the flow. She hadn't said a word when Dean washed his omelette down with a beer, or when he'd made grunting responses and refused to talk to anyone about what was wrong, or even when he spent hour upon hour mucking around with his car, but she refused to let him continue to sink into, whatever it was he was sinking into. She put on her best stern, business face and headed for the front door.

Bobby must have been watching her brood and had guessed what she was thinking, because he caught her arm as she made to go out the door and said, " Leave him be Sarah, he's just sorting through something. He'll talk to us when he's ready."

"And when do you think that will be?" She snapped, tired of worrying about Dean and walking on egg shells. "We need to shake him out it now."

Leaving Bobby behind, she strode down the stairs and up to the Impala. Dean's legs were sticking out underneath as he tinkered with something. "Dean," she said pointedly. When there was no response Sarah gave one of his legs a good kick. Dean slide out from under the car and glared at her, but she just glared right back folding her arms across her chest. He pulled himself to his feet and leaned over her, obviously trying to intimidate her, but she refused to back down and they both stood staring at each other until Dean's hand came crashing down on the car roof beside her. "Get in," he ground out and moved to the driver's side. Sarah exhaled relieved he hadn't just sent her packing and got in.

They rode in silence as Dean drove down the bitumen road, before turning into a dirt side street. She usually enjoyed watching the wide, green spaces of South Dakota go by, but she was too busy trying to get what she meant to say straight in her head. This was probably going to be her only shot at talking sense into him and she had to get it right. He finally stopped, in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, got out silently and leaned against the side of the car. And Sarah quickly joined him, not wanting to let the moment pass.

"So…" she said finally, deciding to dive right in, "Are you going to tell me about it or do I have to beat it out of you?" He raised his eyebrow insultingly at her. "Don't think I won't do it," she continued before sighing softly, "Please Dean, I just want to help."

"Well you can't," he said angrily, "I don't know what to do. I don't know how to save him." And it was like a dam had broken and he poured out how Castiel had come in the night and taken him to the past. He talked about meeting his parents and grandparents and finding out that they had been hunters. And finally he told her about the deal his mother had made that had tied Sam up in the devil's plans. "How could she do it?" He said brokenly, "She may as well of gift-wrapped him."

"I think," Sarah said slowly, "That she was a kid who'd just lost her entire family and the man she loved in one night. She would have done anything to get him back and she probably thought she could find a way to wiggle out of the deal when the time came."

Dean snorted, but he didn't seem as angry as before. "Ok!" Sarah said brightly and clapped her hands in front of her, "We have identified the goal; keep Sam from the dark side. Now we just need the means." She clicked her fingers as she thought, Dean just looking on with a slightly amused smile. "It should be easy. All we need to do is keep an eye on him and kill any demons we come across."

"We?"

"Yes we. Castiel spoke about some important task and I suppose this must be it. So prepare yourself to be saved Sam and Dean Winchester!" She said dramatically pointing a finger at him.

"Now I need to be saved too?"

"Sweetheart," she said as she lowered her voice to imitate his, "You needed saving the minute you were born." Dean laughed and gave her a shove back towards the other side of the car.

###

As she rolled out the short crust Sarah watched Sam and tried to tell herself she was being crazy. Bobby had taken Dean with him to help an old friend with a hunt, leaving her and Sam to hold down the fort. Which basically meant 'babysit the skirt', Sarah's name for it not theirs. Even though they had left her on her own before, they seemed to do it for emergencies only. And this suited Sarah just fine, because although she assured them she was fine alone and she eagerly submitted to self-defense lessons, she knew she'd be mince meat if she ever came up against something supernatural.

Ever since Dean had told her about the big bad plan for Sam she found herself keeping a closer eye on him. Watching him she couldn't help but feel the bad guys must have one hell of a whammy up their sleeves, because she couldn't see sweet, considerate Sam going Darth Vader on them. Sarah had wanted to tell Sam straight away, feeling that they had the best chance of averting the danger if they laid everything out there, but Dean had been so adamant about waiting that she had backed off. She figured she'd give him a week before rattling his chain again.

Unfortunately that left Sarah observing Sam as he paced, suspiciously looking like he had somewhere important to be. Feeling like an utter traitor she waited until he'd gone into the study and went through his phone. Checking the last 20 calls she could see that at least 10 of them were all to a particular number. She Kept one ear out for Sam's return and dialed the number. It only rang twice before someone picked it up, "Sam where are you? I've been waiting over a hour." It was a pissed-off sounding girl.

"What are you doing?"

Sarah started guiltily and hung up the phone, but she stop herself from asking, "Who is she Sam."

If possible Sam looked even guiltier than her, "Just a girl."

Sarah's bullshit radar went off, "She's not some late night booty-call Sam, who is she?"

He sighed and sank into a chair, "It's Ruby."

"Ruby," Sarah breathed her mind whirling, "Like Ruby Ruby? Like demonic Ruby that Lilith sent back to hell Ruby?"

"You don't understand. When Dean died I was lost. She helped me find my feet again. Showed me all the good I could still do."

"Sam she's a demon," and then she paused as the truth dawned on her, "Dean doesn't know about this does he? Oh man he is going to flip out."

"Hence the not telling him," Sam said with a strained smile.

"No, oh no no, we are so not doing this." She paused to collect her thoughts, "It's a sign," she said mostly talking to herself. She turned to Sam and looked him dead in the eyes, "When Dean gets back you are going to tell him the truth Sam. Or I will."


	10. Kiss With A Fist

Sarah didn't know which one of them was more nervous while they waited for Dean and Bobby to return. During the wait Sam told her all about how much control he was getting with his powers and how he'd been able to expel loads of demons without killing their host. Personally Sarah was all on board for the last bit, it had always made her sad how few of the possessed people they'd been able to save on the show. Especially considering most of them had never asked for it and had often been at the wrong place at the wrong time. She couldn't help but think that there would be a price for all of these 'cool', new powers, but she saved that conversation for when Dean was there and they could both give Sam more information.

They gave Dean some time to settle after getting back, not wanting to throw it at him as he walked through the door, but he but must have caught their mood, because he watched them grimly as the night progressed. When they finally cornered him in the lounge room Sarah winced; they hadn't even started and he already looked royally pissed-off. She hadn't wanted to be there at all, thinking that they were better off working through it privately, but Sam had wanted her there. He seemed to think Dean was calmer when she was around and therefore less likely to deck him when the truth came out.

They came to a stop in front of Dean and stood awkwardly for a moment before she nudged Sam, "Dean, Sam has something to tell you."

"Congratulations," he said attempting to look around them at the TV.

Sarah and Sam looked at each other not sure how to respond.

He sighed giving on the TV, "You think I wouldn't know, with the two of you sneaking around giving each other goo goo eyes."

"Goo goo eyes? What are you talking about?"

"You and Sam. What are you talking about?"

"Dean there is no me and Sarah. We're trying to tell you about me and Ruby."

Dean looked almost relieved for a second before he processed the rest of the sentence. "Ruby! Ruby Ruby?"

Sam took a breath and forged on, "Look Dean you were gone for months and I had to keep on fighting. Ruby came back and helped me hone my powers. She's been helping me save people."

"Save people? Are you out of your feakin' mind?" Without any warning he punched Sam in the face.

"Woah! Calm down Dean," Sarah lunged between them.

"Calm down? Do you even know how far from the reservation he's wandered? How far from human? Does he?"

"He came to tell you the truth and he's asking you for understanding. Dammit he's been using his powers to save lives, not set fire to the local orphanage."

"You know what Castiel said," he growled.

"Yeah well Sam doesn't. Maybe if you'd told him the truth we could have sorted this out days ago." Sarah panted as if she'd just finished a marathon, still unwilling to step back in case Dean took another swing. She looked from one to the other, neither one of them looking at anyone. Sam looked guilty and sad, whereas Dean just looked pissed off and betrayed.

"What did Castiel say?" Sam asked finally.

"He said to stop you," Dean ground out, "Or he would. So tell me, if God doesn't want you doing it, how can it be a good thing?" It was a low blow considering how Sam felt about Gad and angels, but Sarah had to agree.

"Sam," she started softly, "The truth is we have little information about it and too many questions. We do know you're part of some demon jailbreak; don't you think that training you to use your powers might be the first step?"

"But Ruby…"

"Ruby was sent to hell a traitor," she cut in, "Do you honestly think she broke out on her own or that the big boss demons trusted her when she said she wouldn't do it again?"

Sam didn't have an answer and they ended up with a kind of truce, with Sam agreeing not to do the freaky ESP and Dean agreeing not to be a dick. He went into detail telling Sam about his time in the past and their mother's part in Sam's curse. Sarah knew from the show that Sam knew about his demon blood, but Dean hadn't, so as Dean explained she asked what she hoped were subtle questions so the fact could come to light gently rather than smack Dean in the face. She figured his faith in Sam was shaken enough.

When they finally went to bed she felt as though the boys had worked through it pretty well and while parts of their relationship had frayed nothing seemed to have snapped. She only hoped things went as smoothly when Ruby came into the picture.

###

Sarah came awake with a gasp _jeeze _she hadn't had that dream in a while. She'd been trapped in hell again, with Dean in chains screaming for his brother. At least this time she'd been aware that it was a dream, but dream or not there was no way she was falling back to sleep with those images floating around in her head. She headed downstairs to get a drink and just as she was about to head back up the stairs she noticed flickering lights coming from the lounge room. Walking through the door she saw Dean sprawled out on the couch, watching some old Western with the sound so low she could barely hear it.

"Can't sleep?" She asked as she slid down next to him.

"Nope," he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "You?"

She gave him a soft smile, "You kidding me? I never miss a midnight showing of…" She looked at the screen, but couldn't remember ever seeing this one before.

"Paint Your Wagon," he supplied helpfully and chuckled when Sarah nodded sagely, as if she'd known all along. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Sarah started to speak.

"I know you remember everything about your time there and everything else," she started not daring to look over at him, " And I know you're totally fine about it and don't need to talk about it and even if you did I know you wouldn't bring it up with Sam, because you'd worry he'd feel too guilty about it. But if you ever do, need to talk that is…" She trailed off hoping he understood what she meant.

He turned to her and gave her a cocky smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Sweetheart, I'm Dean Winchester. I go to hell on holidays and I don't get touchy feely."

Sarah still couldn't meet his eyes but smiled gently, "I know, but if you ever feel like taking a day off from being big bad Dean Winchester I promise I'll be there to listen, no matter how much your high pitched whine hurts my ears." Dean chuckled again and Sarah thought it may not have sounded as forced as before.

They finished Paint Your Wagon and started watching some black and white detective noir that neither of them had seen before. Dean fell asleep halfway through and his head gently flopped on her shoulder. Sarah fought the urge to squeal in fan-girl delight that The Dean Winchester had his head on her shoulder. He looked peaceful, which for him was a rare occurrence and Sarah was loath to move him but she knew that his back would be killing him in the morning if he didn't get to bed, so she gently shook his shoulder. "Dean," she whispered.

"Mmmmm," he murmured, turned his head and kissed her. Sarah froze, his lips felt so good but she knew that the kiss wasn't for her and that he would be embarrassed when he realised what he was doing. Then again this was Dean, he'd probably just laugh it off and make some crude comment guaranteed to make her blush. She moved back and shook him harder, "Dean it's time to go to bed."

"You coming?" He asked his voice all sexy and rough. Then his eyes focused and he must have realised who she was because he blushed slightly and straightened. "Sorry, I was having a good dream."

Sarah felt a twinge in the vicinity of her heart and told herself to get over it. She gave him a bright smile, "Sounds good but you better get going or you'll regret it in the morning."

He nodded in agreement and stretched his back out. "You coming?" He asked again.

"In a minute," Sarah gestured to the TV, "I want to see how it ends." Dean nodded and soon she could hear him making his way up the stairs. _Holy moley _it was going to take one hell of an ending to make her forget the feel of his lips against her.

###

Sarah was still thinking about the kiss the next morning as she headed downstairs to make breakfast. She told herself she was being an idiot, but she hadn't been able to stop herself from taking some extra care with her appearance. She knew she'd never be any competition for the beautiful girls Dean ran around with, but the white, summer dress with its yellow flower print made her feel pretty and girly.

Sam gave her an appreciative glance as he came in the kitchen and said good morning. And even though she was hopelessly attracted to Dean it gave her a glow to think that another hot guy had briefly checked her out. She thought about Dean's comments about them last night and smiled softly. She and Sam got along really well, but there definitely wasn't anything between them. Bobby came in soon afterwards and as she dished them up bacon and eggs, she tried not to make it obvious that she was waiting for Dean.

She needn't have bothered. Dean staggered into the kitchen five minutes later with a mumbled good morning and dug into his breakfast, barely sparing her a glance. As Sarah speared her eggs viciously and stewed in what she viewed as her second rejection in twelve hours Sam filled them in on a call he'd gotten last night from a hunting friend called Travis. Apparently he was worried about a Rugaru. Sarah had never heard of that one before and Bobby explained that they were creatures that began as humans and transformed after tasting human flesh _eww. _

Even though she was still feeling miffed she couldn't help give Dean an excited grin when he told her to grab her stuff.


	11. Appetite For Destruction

Sarah felt like an extra on Stakeout as she sat in the backseat, binoculars trained on Jack Montgomerary's house. Of course her two leading men were way hotter that Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez. It wasn't as comfortable as she'd imagined it would be; she was hungry and had been getting pretty cold before Dean had thrown his jacket at her, looking annoyed at her unpreparedness. It wasn't her fault she didn't realise how cold got in Missouri during October. Back home it would have been fast approaching summer and they probably would have already had a few 30 degree days by now. They still hadn't checked in with the mysterious Travis yet, the boys had wanted to scope out their subject first. Unfortunately or maybe more fortunately he was looking painfully normal at the moment, looking for a snack before dinner. At least he was before wolfing down a tray or what looked like raw mince meat _eww. _Sarah got the feeling she'd be saying that a lot over the next few days.

###

Finally Sarah had met someone who looked exactly as she imagined he would. Travis was grizzled, rough and charismatic and Sarah found that she liked him instantly. After being introduced she was content to sit in the background and just enjoy the almost military banter between the three of them. While Sam and Dean didn't leap at the idea of burning poor Jack alive, Travis seemed certain he knew what he was talking about and that it was the only way to go.

"Well that's going to be…horrible," Dean said. However he said it with an ironic expression that clearly said if that's what it took then it looked like he was having a BBQ. He moved with Travis to the table and started to help him put together what looked like several mini flamethrowers.

"You're not wasting any time," Sam commented looking vaguely uneasy.

"No time to waste, you don't want one of these things getting a head start. His Daddy mangled eight bodies before I caught up with him."

"What if he doesn't Hulk out?" Sam continued.

"Beg Pardon? You don't trust my 30 years of experience?" Travis said and raised his eyebrow condescendingly.

"No no, I've just been doing some research and I've found stories of other Rugurus who never took the final plunge and lived fairly normal lives. It seems like all we need to do is stop him from eating human meat." Dean looked at Sam appreciatively, all for not roasting Johnny-be-average alive.

"So...what? We just sit and hope and wait for a body count?" Travis asked incredulously.

"He's not saying that," Sarah jumped in, felling Sam needed some backup, "He's saying we talk to him. Lay it all out and see how he reacts. Right?"

"Exactly," Sam said shooting her a grateful smile.

"That's sweet but you ever been hungry? I mean starved for days hungry?"

"Yeah," Dean affirmed making Sarah roll her eyes.

"You think he's going to walk away from a steak on legs? Cause that's all we are to him."

"I'm saying we're not killing someone without them doing something to deserve it first," Sam said angrily and stormed out of the room.

Travis looked after him in incomprehension before turning to Dean, "What's wrong with your brother?"

"There's nothing wrong with him," Sarah said, quickly becoming pissed off herself, "He's just reminding you you're supposed to be a hunter not a murderer."

Travis looked as if he was going to give Sarah a serve, but Dean jumped in giving Sarah's shoulder a squeeze that clearly told her to swallow whatever else she wanted to say. "What can I say they're young. And between you and me a pair of real bleeding hearts." Travis nodded in understanding and turned back to his flamethrowers while Dean pushed her out the door.

"What the hell was that?" He whispered harshly as they headed towards the car.

"That was me doing your job. I can't believe you didn't back him up."

"Get in the car," he growled and Sarah flounced in the backseat slamming the door.

_Great _Dean thought _now I've got two touchy bitches to deal with._

###

As they drove out to Jack's the next morning Dean lectured the two of them about their upcoming meeting and the likeliness of failure. Two snarky comments latter Sarah hit him in the back of the head.

"What the hell!"

"We get it, we'll do our best to keep him on the straight and narrow, but if it doesn't work it's Ruguru flambé. Stop being a dick about it and just get us there." Dean grumbled under his breath, but at least Sam was smiling now.

"What?" Dean grumbled.

"Girls whacking you. There's just something about it that never gets old."

###

They walked through the side gate and saw Jack watering his garden. "Now remember no sarcastic, negative comments," Sarah murmured at Dean. Dean made a motion as if zipping his lips and Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Jack Montgomary?" Sam called out as they approached and he slowly turned.

"I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean and our friend Sarah Riley. We need to talk."

"About?" Jack asked, probably wondering what we were selling. Sarah was hit again by how normal he seemed and how unfair everything that was happening to him seemed.

"About you. About how you're changing," Sam continued with a grave face.

"It's started in your bones and moved out to your skin and your appetite is reaching Hungry Hungry Hippo stage. Am I right?" Dean chimed in and Sarah gave him a subtle elbow in the ribs.

"Who exactly are you guys?" Jack asked with apprehension.

"We're people who can help," Sam said sympathetically.

Dean and Sam quickly explained what was happening to him and the fact that it was a trait inherited from his father, who had ultimately been killed because of it. Jack looked overwhelmed and wanted to deny it was true, the poor guy just thought he was just sick. When Dean, rather ruthlessly, let him know that he was now a danger to his friends and loved ones Jack had obviously heard enough.

"Get off my property," he said angrily.

"Please," Sarah cut in, "You have to listen. If you think about what we've said it all matches what you've been experiencing lately. It is dangerous but you can work through it. But to do that you'll need our help."

But Jack wasn't listening, "Go now!" He shouted drawing the attention of a neighbour and they quickly left.

###

Later that night Sarah stood on the front steps of Jacks house. She had convinced Dean to let her talk to Jacks wife while the two of them followed Jack around to make sure he didn't munch on anyone. She knocked on the door for a good few minutes and there was no reply. She could see the wife's car parked on the street so she knew she was home. Sarah nervously tried the door and swung open easily, but she paused before stepping over the threshold. She and Jade had always laughed at the characters in horror movies that entered houses without being invited in. They'd always joked that anyone that rude deserved a run-in with Leather Face.

She took a deep breath and moved cautiously into the house. "Hello," she called out loudly, "Mrs Montgomary are you home?" Something was wrong, she pulled out her cell to call Dean when a figure stepped in front of her. She gave a soft scream and jumped back. "Travis? What are you doing here?" She looked past him and could see Jack's wife tied to a chair looking terrified.

"She's pregnant," he said simply, "I can't let this continue. I won't be here in another 30 years."

He was going to do it; she could see it in his eyes. He was actually going to burn her and her husband alive. Sarah pulled the gun Dean insisted she carry with her everywhere and pointed it at Travis. "I won't let you kill an innocent woman and her unborn child."

Travis scoffed and took a step closer, "You wouldn't dare girl."

She aimed lower and fired. _Holy Shit _she'd been aiming for the ground but hit his foot by accident. Travis cried out and hit the floor and Sarah tried to pull herself together. "Get out! If you come back in this house I'll kill you."

He glared at her and dragged himself out the door, telling her all the while what an idiot she was and how she was going to regret it when the father and later the baby turned. She locked the door behind him and quickly returned to untie the petrified woman. Sarah sat down with the woman, Michelle, and explained everything. She looked disbelieving and hopelessly freaked out, but at least she hadn't run screaming out the door. She truly loved her husband and Sarah thought she might actually be able to deal with all this given some time. The two of them did their best to get rid of the blood in the hall as Sarah was worried it may set Jack off and then Sarah called Dean to fill him in on what had happened with Travis. He yelled at her a fair bit, blaming her for putting herself in danger again. But Sarah mentally counted to ten and took the lecture calmly, telling herself that this was obviously how he showed he cared. He finally finished berating her, telling her to stay put and that he and Sam would be there soon. Apparently they had lost sight of Jack and had been searching the streets for him. But as far as they knew he still hadn't taken a bite out of anyone.

As she hung up the phone Jack walked in the door looking pleased with himself. He tensed up when he saw the bloodstain and Sarah standing not too far behind it but quickly relaxed after Michelle vouched for her. By the time Sam and Dean turned up they'd already ironed out most of the details. In order for them to keep tabs on the would-be Ruguru, Michelle was going to check in with Sarah once a day, at least while things were bad. In the mean time Jack was going to stick to a meat heavy diet and see how it went. He didn't seem to want to turn into a monster any more that they wanted him to so he seemed to take his new restrictions pretty well considering.

As they left it seemed as though the only other loose end was the lighter-happy Travis.

###

The next morning Sarah and Dean lazed around the motel room while Sam went to get them some coffee. Sam and Dean had run the aggrieved Travis off the night before. _I'm glad I wasn't there for that conversation _Sarah thought as she leafed through an old magazine that had come with their motel room. Apparently Travis had ranted and raged and then stormed off saying the mess was on their heads, after Dean had threatened him with bodily harm if he came within spitting distance of the Montgomary's and their soon-to-be baby. Sarah looked up at him fondly; proud of the way he'd stood by his 'two bleeding hearts'.

He looked up and caught her smiling, "What?"

"Nothing," she said happily, "just glad everything worked out ok."

He snorted, "We were lucky. Things could have turned out very differently. I was ready to torch the whole lot of them."

She could see the guilt in his eyes and her heart squeezed, "It doesn't matter what could have happened, only what did."

"Yeah well, I was lucky you and Sam were there. You did the right thing Sarah." Sarah's smile reached blinding proportions. "What?"

"Do you know that that was the first time you've used my name?" She said happily.

Dean just snorted again and turned back to the TV, muttering something about crazy chicks from other dimensions.


	12. Fear Of The Dark

Sarah stared hard at Dean. He'd been acting funny ever since he and Sam had returned from interviewing the town sheriff and sitting in on an autopsy. They were in Colorado, investigating a string of heart attacks where it appeared as though the victims had been scared to death. As they drove to their motel Sam made a crack about Dean actually doing the speed limit.

"What, so safety's a crime now?"

Sarah shared a concerned look with Sam as Dean itched absently at his arm.

"Dude you just missed our hotel," Sam said as we slowly passed the Bluebird Motel.

"Sam, I'm not crossing two lanes in oncoming traffic! I'm not suicidal."

The EMF reader in Sam's pocket suddenly went off and began to register off the chart when moved closer to Dean. Great, not only was he acting weird he was also haunted.

###

The next day he was no better. Sam went to get them some breakfast, while Dean paced their small room, looking like he was trying not to stare out the window. "You ok?"

"I'm fine. It's just," he looked at her self-consciously, "It's a little high don't you think?" They were on the fourth floor.

"Um…I could see if we could swap rooms?"

"Thanks," he said with a relieved completely un-Dean-like face. _Ok I'm officially freaked out _Sarah thought as she headed down to the lobby. She walked up to the front desk where an unassuming middle-aged man was sitting behind the desk.

She looked at his name tag quickly. "Hello Bill," she said with a sheepish smile, "I'm Sarah Winchester, my brother Sam booked room 406 with you." He raised his eyebrows attentively. "Um..well you see Sam thought it would be funny getting one on the fourth floor." She leaned forward as if she was sharing an embarrassing secret, "I have a terrible phobia of heights. Do you think we could swap to something on the ground floor?" Bill looked appalled at the 'joke' and quickly made the change for her. Sarah just hopped poor Sam didn't run into him again before they left. When she returned to give Dean the good news already he'd left, so she quickly moved their stuff and headed out the front to find him. Something told her he shouldn't be left alone.

Outside she ran into Sam who had returned with a box of donuts. When she told him what happened he looked like he was caught between worrying and laughing. He pointed to the Impala where he'd spotted Dean and as they approached they saw him sprawled on the front seat rocking out to Eye of the Tiger. Sam banged on the roof and Dean jumped off the seat clearly startled.

"Look at this," he said thrusting his arm at us. The spot he'd been scratching had turned into a fairly decent abrasion that matched the first victim, Frank's, arms.

Sam gave him a sympathetic look and broke his bad news, "So I talked to Bobby, and you're not going to like this."

"Yeah?"

"It's ghost sickness." Apparently Dean had picked up the disease from the first victim's corpse and it looked like he would first become anxious, then scared and finally suffer a fatal heart attack. To top it all off they only had around 24 hours to find the ghost responsible. Their number one suspect was the original victim's wife, Jessie, who was a manic depressant who'd killed herself a few years ago. At least Sarah and Sam were safe from the illness; based on the three victims so far Sam and Bobby seemed to think it only affected bullies and dicks.

###

Sarah fought to keep down her worry as she flipped through a book on ghost lore, looking for any references to ghost sickness. Sam had left over an hour ago to hit the local library and see if he could find anything else on their potential ghost. She knew they faced worse thing on a regular basis but she was nearly sick with the thought that in less than a day Dean might be…gone. Her hopeless infatuation aside she found that she deeply cared about both of them and couldn't bear to see them hurt. With renewed determination she focused on the book before Dean's fidgeting drew her attention. He kept rubbing his eyes and was staring at the book in front of him with growing apprehension.

She called out to him but he didn't seem to hear her, so she got up and moved over to him. "Dean," she said, softly putting a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and looked up at her slightly panicked. Looking at the book in front of him she couldn't blame him; there was a large picture of someone with ghost sickness literally puking their guts up. "Ok," she said firmly, "No more research for you." She moved him from the chair to the couch and handed him a beer. "Just relax ok, we'll figure this out."

Dean didn't look particularly relived. He wiped his sweaty forehead, "I think I'm starting to hallucinate."

She handed him a deck of cards, "Why don't you play some solitaire or something. Just let me know if the Joker starts giving you any funny looks." He gave her a weak smile and Sarah started to pour through the book he'd been reading, making notes in the writing pad beside her. She sighed; there wasn't really anything new just documentation of previous cases and some more on possible symptoms. She tensed as Dean coughed and hacked across the room, willing Sam to hurry.

Five minutes later Sam walked through the door with some snacks and more bad news. Jessie had been cremated so there was o way that she could be the ghost responsible. As the brothers bickered about what to do next Dean doubled over in a coughing fit and ran to the sink. He choked and gagged before coughing up a disturbingly large woodchip.

"Dude," Sam said in a voice way too excited for Sarah's taste, "We've been ignoring our biggest clue…you."

"I don't want to be a clue," Dean whined as he tried to catch his breath.

"The abrasions, this," he said gesturing to the chip, "The disease is trying to tell us something."

"So it's like in The Grudge, where the victims kept coughing up the ghost's hair?" Sarah asked

"Exactly!" Sam said, "Jessie used to work at the old lumber mill. I think we need to check it out."

###

As if a testament of how far gone he was, Dean insisted that Sarah come with them to the lumber mill. And as nervous as she was to be going into the possibly haunted building, she felt 100 times better than she would have sitting around their motel room. They got out of the car and Dean took one look at the building before saying, "I'm not going in there."

Sam sighed, clearly trying to be understanding. "Look Dean I need back-up and I need you to help watch out for Sarah." Dean pulled out a flask and took a big sip as Sam headed to the boot and started to pull out what weapons they needed. Wordlessly he handed a gun to Dean.

"Oh no," he said holding out his hands, "I'm not taking that. It might go off."

Sam opened his mouth to say something but Sarah quickly took the gun, "I'll take it. Travis' foot notwithstanding I'm getting pretty good."

While they were busy Dean had fished out a torch. "I'll man the flashlight," he said with a sheepish smile. She watched Sam swallow whatever he was going to say and they headed inside.

Dean paused at the threshold, "Kind of spooky isn't it."

Sarah smiled softly and gave his hand a squeeze as she walked past him, "Nothing to worry about." It was silly but having Dean so freaked out actually made her feel braver.

They made their way through the first room side by side, Dean manning the flashlight and Sarah and Sam with guns drawn. Sam pulled out the EMF reader, but they soon realised it was useless as Dean himself was making it go off. Dean nearly leapt out of his skin and latched onto Sarah's arm when Sam bent down suddenly to examine some rubbish. It was Jessie's husband's ring. He must have been here before he became ill. As Dean realised what he was doing and dropped her arm Sarah did an internal dance of glee. Now she had one more reason a scaredy-cat Dean wasn't such a bad thing.

It got steadily darker and scarier, the further in they went and as they approached a locker that had made a suspicious thumping noise, Sarah could feel Dean shaking beside her. _On three_ Sam mouthed before counting and then flinging the door open. Sarah jumped a good foot off the ground as Dean screamed in her ear; she was so startled she couldn't help joining in. "Bloody hell Dean! You scared the crap out of me," she cried when she realised it was just a cat. Sam just stared at the two of them as if he were embarrassed to be in the same room, before walking off.

"That was scary," Dean said as he caught his breath.

Sarah just narrowed her eyes at him, "Do not do that again."

The next room was an absolute mess with papers all over the floor. As the three of them spread out to scope out the room Dean moved to the cluttered desk. "Hey," he said, "This is a picture of the dead wife." He picked the hand drawn picture up, accidentally tearing the corner and the machinery started up around them. Sarah looked wildly around the room but noticed Dean frozen, pointing his flashlight into the corner. As she turned she saw a huge bald guy, who had not been there before, with his back to them. Sarah and Sam raised their guns.

"Hey!" Sam growled and the man flinched. Sarah turned back to Dean only to glimpse his terrified face as he tore back out of the room _what the hell? _She looked back at the man as he turned. He was wearing a worker's jumpsuit and his face was all torn up. He snarled at them and charged _oh shit oh shit. _Sam fired and he disappeared.

They headed back outside to find Dean squatting by the car draining his flask of booze. Sam held up the ID card he'd swiped from the office, "Guess we've got the right place. Now we just need to find out who Luther Garland is."

###

Sarah smoothed down the black skirt and buttoned up the matching suit jacket. She'd bought the outfit a couple of weeks ago thinking that the time might come where she would be required to participate in a hunt and she might have to dress up as someone official; she'd even had Bobby make her up some ID. She felt stupid now though. She'd been so excited when she'd gotten it together, feeling like Daphne from Scooby Doo. It had felt like a game, but she shook her head as she thought about Dean. It definitely wasn't a game and they only had about 18 hours to go.

Dean was a mess. Sam had taken him to the Sheriff's office to pull Luther's file, but after downing that bottle he'd been more hindrance than help. She had convinced Sam to take her instead of Dean to interview Luther's brother and Dean had happily agreed. She left the bathroom and Sam looked her over before giving her an approving nod and heading for the car.

She turned to Dean who was sitting on the edge of the bed looking forlorn. "Ok," she said brightly, forcing a smile, "No creepy books, no TV and definitely no booze. Just relax, maybe have a nap and we'll be back before you know it."

She turned to go and Dean's hand shot out grabbing her arm. "Don't go," he said softly.

"I have to Dean. Sam needs someone to go with him," she said gently.

"I'm afraid," he said so softly that she barely heard it, "I'm afraid if you walk out the door you'll disappear and go back wherever you came from."

She knelt down in front of him, "I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me remember." He shook his head wordlessly. "Dean Winchester," she said firmly, "You are the bravest person I know. You're always the first to charge in no matter how dangerous it is and you never shirk you duty, no matter how hard it is. Now I'm ordering you to sit back and let us save you. Think of it like a day off."

"A day off," he echoed smiling slightly.

Sarah straightened, kissed his forehead and walked out the door, ordering herself not to turn around as she left.


	13. Already Gone

They were at a nursing home to see the late Luther's brother and as they walked down the hallway to the visiting area Sam gave her some last minute advice. "Ok, so just look stern, confident and let me do all of the talking."

Sarah gave an enthusiastic nod. She'd never taken drama at school and had zero acting experience. The idea of pretending to be someone else had seemed exciting at first, but now it was actually happening she felt more than a little nervous. They stopped at the door and Sam took in her worried expression, "Take a deep breath." He paused while she did so, "Feel better?" Sarah nodded and then followed him inside.

They introduced themselves to Luther's brother and quickly flashed their badges at his request. Sarah couldn't help but look at him with pity; he looked so sad and tired. "I'm sorry to be bothering you with this. You must have loved your brother very much."

He gave her a measuring look, "I'm glad it's someone like you looking into his case. He would have liked you I think. It's not right what happened to him. Maybe now he'll have some justice."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, obviously feeling they were on to something.

"Everybody was scared of Luther, they called him names. They just couldn't imagine that someone so big and mean looking could really be the kindest person I ever met. " He took a shuddering breath, "A lot of people failed Luther and I was one of them. I was a widower with three young'uns and I told myself there was nothing I could do."

Sam unfolded the picture of Jessica Luther had drawn. "Mr Garland do you recognise this woman?"

His lip raised in a sneer, "That's Jessica. She was always nice to Luther and he adored her. Coarse, when she went missing he was the first person they came to. Turned out the old girl killed herself, but by the time they found out it was too late. Night before they found her that husband of hers came for him, bound him up and dragged him up and down the stretch of road outside the mill till he was dead. I went to the Sheriff, hell I went to anyone who'd listen, but it was all swept under the rug. Frank had been such an upstanding citizen and deep down they probably all figured the town freak probably deserved it anyway."

"And you were able to just let that anger go?" Sam asked.

He held up his hands, "I'm an old man and it happened a long time ago. I know Frank wasn't thinking straight. It's just a damn shame he had to put Luther through that." He gave a soft satisfied smile, "I do hear he got his in the end though, didn't he?"

###

They were screwed. Luther's body was in pieces and even if they did dig up his remains to burn, it was almost guaranteed that they wouldn't get all of them. "Don't worry," Sam said, trying to calm her down as she fumed beside him, "We'll just have to figure something else out."

"What else is there to figure out?" She demanded angrily and then looked upwards. "How about a little divine intervention? We have work for you my ass. God's health plan obviously sucks cause you guys are still getting your asses handed to you once a week."

Sam gave her a dry look and she blushed, "Sorry, you know what I mean." As they headed up to their door and Sam unlocked it she sighed, "So what now?"

"Now I call Bobby and…what the hell?" He raced over to Dean who was pressed up against the wall and choking. "Dean!" He yelled trying to shake him out of his hallucination. Dean finally seemed to break out of it and sagged against the wall, his eyes wide with fright. Sam quickly called Bobby and hatched what Sarah hoped was some kind of grand plan, but didn't go through the details with either of them. Somehow Sarah didn't think that was a good sign.

That night Dean didn't go to bed. After their first night on the road he and Sarah automatically shared a bed whenever they were on the move. Sarah didn't want to read too deeply into it but she liked to think she helped with his nightmares. After an hour or so of tossing and turning she gave up and joined Dean on the couch.

"Go to bed," he said not taking his eyes from the TV.

"Not sleepy," she whispered stubbornly.

You'll need your sleep," he warned.

But Sarah just shook her head as she snuggled deeper into the cushions. "No I don't. We've got a lazy day tomorrow, just hanging around the room while Sam and Bobby sort this mess out."

Dean just snorted, but he didn't ask her to leave again and Sarah could have sworn he stretched just enough so his side was pressed firmly against hers.

###

The next morning Dean and Sarah were on the couch, watching Gumby and eating cereal. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and willed her not to look up, knowing she'd she something mushy and embarrassing written on his face. She'd stayed up the whole night with him. Sure she'd dozed off a couple of times but just feeling her warmth pressed up against him had been enough to keep him calm. Dean had actually been glad to be off his nut with fear, because he knew if he'd been in his right mind he'd probably have tried something and for the first time he could remember he was worried about sex complicating things. Hell he hadn't even looked sideways at another girl since crawling out of the pit and though he told himself he was still adjusting to breathing again he knew it wasn't the only reason.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked suddenly. "Our life sucks, we chase monsters, stay in skeevy motels, eat bad diner food...we're obviously insane. Why do you bother tagging along?"

She just smiled, "Dean, you guys are heroes. You're like Batman and Superman protecting the innocent and sending the bad guys back to hell." She shrugged her shoulders, "Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?"

Dean shook his head. He would never, in a million years, understand chicks. But he couldn't deny that his insides had just gotten a hell of a lot warmer.

He suddenly froze as he heard the familiar braying of hell hounds. "Dean what is it?" Sarah asked looking worried. The door started to bang and Sarah leapt over to the bed, grabbed the gun under the pillow and aimed it at the door. _Holy shit she hears them to? _This meant that it wasn't a hallucination, the hounds were back and he was going to die, again.

The door burst open and the Sheriff stood on the other side looking crazy. _What the hell?_

"Why have you been looking into Luther Garland's death?" He demanded and stalked towards him.

"Stay where you are," Sarah ordered cocking the trigger.

The Sheriff's eyes narrowed, "Who are you? Are you in on it too? You punks think you can bring me down over this. Frank was my friend, who cares if I didn't string him up for Luther's death?"

He continued to rant and Dean zeroed in on his arms which had long abrasions running along them. "Look," he said showing him his arms, "You've got it to. You need to calm down…" But the Sheriff was already too far gone and closed the distance between them, trying to choke Dean. His vision blurred as he felt himself slipping into a hallucination and the Sheriff's eyes went black. The guy was a demon _where the hell was Sarah! _There was a loud crack and the Sheriff slumped to his knees revealing an anxious Sarah holding half a lamp in her hands. "You ok?" She whispered and he nodded, not trusting himself to speak. The sheriff started to convulse on the floor and Sarah ran to the phone, but by the time she'd pick up the receiver it was over and he was dead.

###

Sarah laid a blanket over the dead man and turned back to Dean who was sitting on the edge of the bed scratching at his arms. "Don't do that," she said quietly.

"I can hear them all around me," he said anxiously, "The demons. They're here to take me back."

"No one is taking you anywhere," she insisted, "We still have time." But it didn't seem like he was listening, she watched as he slowly became more panicked and his breathing rate accelerated. Suddenly she leaned forward and kissed him hard. As she closed her eyes at the sweet feeling of his lips on hers she told herself she was only doing it to distract him. She finally moved back, "Better?" She asked, blushing brightly. Dean just nodded dumbly his eyes wide and then he fell backwards onto the bed clutching his chest.

"Dean!" she cried out, "Stay with me! Just take deep breaths," she said desperately, willing herself not to cry. It was like he couldn't even see her; he just looked over her shoulder, choking out something about Lilith. He stopped breathing and Sarah burst into tears, cradling his head on her lap. "Dean," she whispered brokenly. He suddenly took a shuddering breath, looking up at her with panicked eyes. Sarah closed her eyes in silent thanks, "Sam and Bobby…they must have got him." She narrowed her eyes, "Don't ever do that again!"

"I don't intend to," he huffed as he caught his breath. Neither of them moved for quite some time.

###

The four of them stood leaning against the Impala, as Sam and Bobby detailed how they'd 'killed' the ghost. Apparently they'd re-enacted his death and it had been enough to scare him to death for a second time.

When they'd finished Sarah noticed both Sam and Bobby's eyes on Dean. "So," Bobby asked, "You really ok?"

"Yeah," Dean said defensively, "Never better."

"Cause you know our line of work gets awful scary," he continued smirking.

Dean just glared at him, "I'm fine. Hey you wanna go hunt? I'll kill anything."

"Awwww," Sam cooed

"He's adorable," Bobby chimed in before they both burst into laughter. Sarah laughed along with them as poor Dean took an aggrieved swig of his beer. Sarah didn't know about the rest of them but it would be a long time before she forgot the image of Dean sprawled on the bed gasping for air. At least everything had gone back to normal and to her relief Dean hadn't said a word to her about the kiss. As she slid into the backseat she told herself firmly that it was for the best.

###

Three days later Dean was outside giving his baby a tune up. He straightened up from the bonnet and started when he realised that Castiel had appeared on the other side of the car. "Where'd you come from?" He said, pissed off the angle had made him jump.

"We must talk," Castiel said with his deadpan stare.

"You must be great at poker," Dean said sarcastically trying to shake his unease.

Castiel looked confused for a second before continuing, "The girl is still here."

Now Dean looked confused, "Yeah, you want to talk to her?"

Castiel seemed annoyed that Dean didn't get what he was talking about. "Her presence here, it unbalances the way things should be. There are other angels, ones higher up than me, that are becoming…irritated."

Dean stuck his head back under the bonnet, "So your buddies are in a tizzie, so what?"

"This is not something you should take lightly! They could…" The silence stretched out.

"They could what?" Dean asked finally, raising his head from the bonnet, but Castiel had vanished. "Freakin' angels," he muttered getting back to work.

It was about two minutes later that a frazzled Sam burst out onto the porch. "Dean! You seen Sarah?"

"Not since breakfast." He looked at Sam and the worry he saw in his face made his stomach tighten with apprehension. He strode past him without saying anything else and headed straight for the kitchen. The sink was still full of water and there was a broken dish lying on the floor, as if she'd disappeared while putting it away. "Freakin' angels!" he roared.

###

Within 3 hours Sam and Dean were standing around Bobby as he began to perform the summoning ritual.

"This is unnecessary," came a quiet voice behind them.

Dean spun around, grabbing Castiel by his jacket, "Where is she!"

"She is beyond your reach," Castiel said brushing him off, his face resigned and solemn, "It's been decided that she will undergo a test."

Dean waited for more and when Castiel seemed unwilling to elaborate he growled, "What kind of test?"

"She will have to prove she is worthy or capable of remaining here."

"So if she fails you send her home?" Sam asked.

Castiel shook his head, "We cannot send her home. If she fails she will cease to be."

Dean saw red and threw himself at the angel. "You bastards! Now you choose to interfere? What have you done with her?" He raged, dimly aware of Sam pulling him back.

"It wasn't my decision. Nothing may have come of her continued presence here, but the other angels sensed your growing attachment and felt she was becoming too much of a distraction." Castiel said quietly looking as if he honestly felt sorry for him.

Dean could care less how the angel felt, "Take me to her now!"

"I cannot. But…" he paused, "You could witness the test."

Dean opened his mouth to tell him where he could stick his front row tickets when Sam cut it, "We'll do it." He glared at Sam ready to rip him a new one too, but his brother gave him a look that clearly said to go with the flow. Castiel nodded still looking unhappy, but then again Dean had yet to see the serious man look amused at anything.

He touched both of their foreheads and everything winked out. When everything consolidated again in front of them they were in what looked like a fancy hotel meeting room. Dean gripped Sam's arm to keep himself steady and ordered himself not to hurl.

"Where the hell are we?" He said hoarsely.

"A waiting room…for lack of a better word. You can observe Sarah's progress there," Castiel said, gesturing to a large flat-screen on the far wall. "I am sorry Dean," he added before leaving, "I honestly thought she was helping."

Dean and Sam moved quickly around the room, trying the various doors. It didn't take them long to realise they were stuck. "Well Sam, what's the big plan?"

"Well," he said sheepishly, "I figured we could find out where they took her and then go get her ourselves."

Dean gave Sam a look of disgust he knew he didn't deserve. His stomach roiled as he tried not to imagine what Sarah was going through at the moment. He still didn't know how he felt about her; she'd become a friend of sorts over the last six weeks and lately he'd begun to look at her as something more.

The monitor flicked on drawing the boys' attention. On the screen they could see Sarah tied up and attached to tubes. "A djinn? They gave her to a freakin' djinn?" He raged.

The image crackled and refocused and now they could see Sarah sleeping peacefully in bed. She was in a white-washed room with a dresser in one corner and a desk and lap top in the other. Clothes and books were strewn everywhere.

"She's dreaming of her home," Castiel said quietly from the other side of the room.

Dean didn't turn from the screen, "She said she watched the show, she would have seen djinn before. She'll know what's happening."

Castiel shook his head, "Her memory has been tampered with, it's like you never existed. She will have to fight through the dream on her own."

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Author's note: I'm stoked to be up to this point of the story. I've had this plot bunny rattling around my head for ages, but I felt that Sarah needed to be fairly established to make it work. I hope you enjoy my second attempt at some original content.

Also thank you again to all the people favouriting and reviewing, it's really keeping me motivated!


	14. Dream Of Mirrors

Author's Note: The information below about djinn I just pulled straight off .com/wiki/Djinn I hope nobody minds. I was being lazy and didn't want to rewrite it. Anyway on with the chapter

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The alarm clock blared beside her and she reached out swiping at it before finally turning it off. "Urrrrrg," she groaned rubbing her face, there was something she had to do today she just couldn't remember what it was. She looked blearily around her room but there were no clues there. Did she have an assignment due or something? Her eyes fastened on the clock _Ahhhh!_ She was going to be late for school. She flew out of the bed and threw on some clothes, tugging on her runners and grabbing her books as she went.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" She demanded angrily but her mother just smiled serenely back at her.

"Isn't that what alarm clocks are for," Emma, her little sister, smirked. Sarah just stuck her tongue out at her as she snagged some toast and dashed out the door. She leapt into her 92 Nissan Pulsar and it spluttered to life. She gave it a fond smile; it was as old as the hills but it still got her wherever she needed to go.

She floored it to Uni trying to remember what she had on that day. For some reason everything seemed all fuzzy, like she was hung over. But she was positive she hadn't been drinking last night. Although now she thought about it she couldn't really remember what she was doing last night. She shook off the thought as she pulled into the car park. She was pleasantly surprised to slide straight into a park. Usually she had to drive around in circles for ages or stalk a leaving student to find one.

She huffed into the campus, mentally cursing its distance from the parking lot. Next to the lecture hall she could see Jade, frantically waving her in. "Where the hell have you been you bitch? Leaving me hanging the first lecture of the term."

"Sorry," she puffed, "Slept in."

Jade sighed impatiently, "Well come on. I still don't know how you talked me into this, A Comprehensive Course on the Occult and Demonology. Weirdest bloody course I've ever heard of."

Sarah shrugged helplessly, "It sounded interesting."

They both tiptoed in silently and slid into the last two seats in the back row, right next to a pair of hot guys. The one next to her, with short, brown hair leaned over and smirked, "Playing hooky already ladies?" Sarah shook her head and blushed, making his green eyes crinkle at the corners and she felt her stomach fluttering in response. A reaction not helped at all by Jade's completely unsubtle elbow and excited grin. She waved her friend off and focused on what Professor Singer was saying about witches.

At the end of the lecture, as everyone started to pile out the doors she heard Professor Singer call out, "Miss Riley, Miss North, a word thanks."

Sarah froze _crap, how the hell does he know our names already? _They fought their way through the crowd to the lectern at the front. "Yes Professor?"

"I expect my students to be on time. Am I understood?" He said with his American twang.

"Yes Professor," they parroted shamefaced.

"Now, you both missed this. It's your first assignment." He handed them both a sheaf of papers and gave Sarah a severe look. "Make sure you do it." Sarah nodded, a little put off by his intensity.

"Uuuugh," Jade groaned as soon as they were out the door, "An assignment already?" She leafed through her papers. "Gross, zombies. What did you get?"

She looked down, "Djinn." She suddenly felt as though everything shifted around her and when she glanced up Jade was giving her a strange look.

"You ok?"

She gave a self-conscious shrug, "Fine. I just feel a bit off today."

"Well who wouldn't," Jade said latching onto her arm, "Did you see how hot those two guys were? And did you hear his accent? I think he's American and you know I feel about foreigners. I think I'm going to like this class after all." Sarah just rolled her eyes as they made their way to their next class. The rest of the day passed in a blur, Sarah still had that niggling feeling she was forgetting something but it faded as the day wore on.

Sarah couldn't remember the last time she'd enjoyed dinner with her family more. They had always been close and got along well, but for some reason that night she found herself savouring their company. She drank in each of their smiling faces as if she hadn't seen them in months and hung around the table for ages afterwards just talking, when she would have usually hurried up to her room to work on assignments or call Jade. Later that night she did some research on her Occult and Demonology assignment. She'd searched for ages and hadn't found anything useful when she finally found a website with some decent information;

_**Djinns** are a rare race of supernatural cave dwelling hermits. Djinns are humanoid with tattoos and scarification covering their body. Their eyes glow blue when attacking their prey._

_They do not grant wishes, instead they poison their victims and create an alternate reality the victim is trapped in and make the victim believe that the hallucination is their wish come true. At the same time, unknown to the victim, the djinn feeds on the blood. The only way the victim can wake up from their false reality is by taking their own life therefore forcing the body to wake up. Sometimes the djinns power is so great that it can poison the person to death when they are hallucinating. _

_The only thing that can kill a djinn, is to stab them with a silver knife dipped in lames blood. _

As she read trough the information she felt as though ice cold fingers were dancing along her spine. She hurriedly looked around suddenly certain someone was watching her. She shook her head and closed the lap top down. "No more research for me," she said aloud trying to dispel the strange tension and quickly went to bed.

###

The next day she sat with Jade in an Occult and Demonology tute as the teacher aid, who insisted on being called Travis, went on about how to deal with a ruguru. They were some kind of nasty flesh eating monster who transformed after eating human flesh for the first time. He'd just launched into the best way to kill them when Sarah raised her hand, unable to stop herself asking, "What if they never turn?"

Travis just smiled condescendingly, "They always turn."

"Don't you think they should get a chance?" Travis didn't bother answering, instead he just rolled his eyes and continued on with the lesson.

They were exiting the room, with Jade making some monster-lover crack in her ear, when she noticed the two American boys leaning against the wall as if they were waiting for someone. "Hey," the taller one with the longer hair called out and they made their way over. "I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean. We sat next to you in the lecture yesterday."

Sarah smiled warmly, "I remember. I'm Sarah and this is Jade." She felt Jade vibrating beside her, ready to have a conniption at the feast of hotness in front of them.

"Anyway," Sam continued, "We don't know many people here and were wondering if you wanted to get some lunch with us?"

"Ahh sure," Sarah said, not sure why they'd been singled out. She knew they weren't ugly or anything, but she also knew for a fact that there were plenty of better looking girls than them taking the class.

As they fell into step just behind the boys Jade leaned over and whispered shrilly, "Ok Sarah you snagged these sex gods which one do you want."

"Ahh."

"Can I have tall, dark and handsome? Please!" She asked quickly turning on her puppy dog eyes.

Sarah gave her a fond smile, "No worries." As Jade did a subdued victory dance just out of the boys' sight Sarah's eyes tracked back to Dean. Something told her Jade had nothing to worry about where Sam was concerned.

Sarah was marginally freaked out at the speed in which she became comfortable with the brothers. It wasn't that she was terminally shy or anything, it was just that literally 30 minutes into their cafeteria fries she was laughing and joking with them as if she'd known them forever. True to form Jade followed her lead and even managed to coax an invitation to a party that was happening at their dorm later that night. Jade crowed the whole way back to their cars as she insisted Sarah go straight to her house so they could start to get ready. She clapped her hands in glee, "That's it Sarah I've found my soul mate! We'll be married on the beach in the Summer and have three insanely good-looking kids. They'll all be taller than me but I swear I won't mind." Sarah couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm. "And what about you and Dean? Will we make it a double wedding?"

Sarah just laughed and waved her hand, "Nah, we're just friends."

Jade looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Are you kidding me? He was flirting with you nonstop!"

She shook her head ruefully, "That's just Dean."

"What are you talking about? You just met the guy today, right?"

"I…" Sarah paused suddenly confused, "I don't know."

Jade gave her a slightly concerned smile and pushed her into the driver's seat, "I think you're suffering from Dean-induced brain fever. Let's just get you back to my place and then dress ourselves up in man-catching awesomeness."

Sarah sighed as she focused on the road. Strange, it seemed to be her word of the week. Now that she thought about it Dean had seemed flatteringly attentive during lunch. She had to agree with Jade, it did seem ridiculously perfect. Maybe that was her problem; the last two days just seemed like something out of one of the cheesy romance novels she loved. She snorted, if she didn't know better she'd say someone had djinn-whammied her.

###

Sarah couldn't help but take a vain moment to admire herself in the glass of the dorm's front door. Jade had worked her magic and they were both looking pretty damn good. They were both in figure hugging jeans and Jade was in a slinky silver top, while Sarah was wearing a bronze halter-neck that brought out her brown eyes. Again the boys were holding up a wall together as if they were waiting just for them. _Funny these two hotties have nothing better to do. It's even funnier that there aren't 20 other girls hanging off of them. _Sarah told her bullshit radar to shut the hell up as Dean gave her a melty smile held out his hand. She turned to Jade only to see her retreating back as Sam led her off somewhere.

"So," Dean said and Sarah could have sworn he just turned his smile up a notch, "Looks like it's just me and you. "

She gave him a rueful smile, "I guess so." Just then some drunk guy stumbled into Sarah throwing her against Dean. He glared at the guy who quickly mumbled an apology and took off.

"You ok?" Sarah just nodded, too absorbed in the rock hard chest under her hands to attempt an intelligent response. "Wanna get out of here?" He asked and without waiting for a reply he took her hand and led her up the stairs.

She soon found herself in a more than slightly messy room and watched Dean make his way to one of the single beds, patting the spot beside him. She told herself that things were moving too quickly, that she wasn't usually like this, but there was something about Dean that just felt right. It was as if she'd been waiting for this moment forever. As if in slow motion she felt herself move across the room and sit beside him. He didn't bother making any small talk he just leaned forward and kissed her.

Sarah froze and pulled back, an unformed question on her lips. He gave her an expectant look and she put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him hard. There it was again, she felt his lips warm and firm against hers, she felt his tongue brush her bottom lip trying to deepen the kiss. It felt fantastic and…wrong. He just didn't taste right. She pulled back again, breathing hard and she knew; this wasn't where she was supposed to be. Without a word and ignoring his confused call behind her she ran out of the room and back down the stairs. She hit the pavement and kept going, not knowing where she was going, just that she had to get back.

Sarah had never been much for exercise and it wasn't long before she came to a stop, panting, at the top of a walkway overlooking the freeway. She panted, nearly hysterical as she tried to come to grips with what her head was telling her. She heard voices behind her and turned to see Jade, Sam and Dean at the edge of the walkway. Her panic must have showed because the three of them were approaching her very slowly obviously trying not to make it worse. She held up her hands to ward them off and they stopped ten feet from her. She could see Jade was crying and she suddenly realised she also had tears running down her face.

"Sarah get down. Whatever it is we can work it out."

She looked down in surprise, she hadn't even noticed climbing up the barrier. She shook her head helplessly, "I can't, I don't belong here."

"Sarah you're my best friend, I miss you," Jade sobbed.

Sarah choked on a sob, "I miss you too."

"Then please," Jade said desperately, "Just come home."

She smiled through her tears at her best friend in the world, "I am," and let go of the railing. Her last thought before face-planting in the bitumen below was _so help me, I better not be crazy._

###

Sarah felt as though she were swimming through thick molasses as she struggled to consciousness. Everything ached; especially her hands which she could feel were strung up above her. As she came into awareness she took in her surroundings _holy shit I really am in a djinn lair. _She remembered everything now, Castiel appearing in front of her and whisking her away and her surreal dream. He must have handed her over to one of those monsters _that bastard._ She pulled weakly at her bonds and panicked. She might be awake but she was still well and truly stuck. She looked frantically around the room, but apart from some poor girl next to her there was no sign of the djinn or anyone else.

She looked up at the hook she was hanging on, went up on her tippy-toes and tried to slip the rope over the edge. She slipped and her full weight came down, sending shooting pains up her arms. She grit her teeth and tried again. 20 or so times later she managed to pull the rope free and fell to her knees. There was a tearing sensation at her neck as the needle was pulled free by the fall. She took a ragged breath and looked for a weapon. There was nothing useful in the room except for a long metal pipe. She picked it up, the solid shape of it reassuring her. Just then she heard footsteps outside the door and she pressed herself against the wall.

The djinn glided into the room, not noticing her and she didn't hesitate before bringing the pipe down on its head as hard as she could. It faltered in front of her and she was right behind it bringing the pipe down over and over again, each blow making her feel like her arms were being wrenched off. She followed it to the ground, not stopping until its head was a pulpy mess on the floor. Even then she couldn't bring herself to stop, terrified it would somehow get up again. Finally she flung the bar away and broke down on the floor next to its corpse, sobbing like a baby.

What felt like hours later she stood up and swiped at her runny nose. There was a pile of discarded clothing in the corner of the room and, trying not to think about who they'd belonged to, she riffled through them finding a lighter and a mobile phone. She got the other girl down and roused her enough to drag her outside the warehouse. Neither Sam or Dean answered their phones and she looked back at the building in apprehension, knowing what had to be done. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before re-entering the warehouse. And then, taking a canister of fuel she'd spotted in one of the outer rooms she doused everything in petrol. She took great satisfaction in setting the place on fire, before calling 911 about the girl.

She stayed with the poor shell-shocked thing until she heard the sound of sirens in the distance. As she turned to leave the girl's hand shot out to stop her. "Please, don't go," she whispered.

"It's ok, help is here now," Sarah said pulling her hand off.

"What about you?"

She smiled softly, "I've got to get home. Please, when they get here don't mention me. Tell them you don't know how you got out." The girl nodded, looking exhausted by their conversation and Sarah quickly hurried away.

She limped down an ally, heading towards what she hoped was a more densely populated area so she could figure out where she was. She felt herself start to shake as shock set in and she forced her trembling legs to keep moving, wondering how long she'd been 'gone' for. Two figures appeared at the mouth of the ally and she froze, ready to go back the way she came. She was just about to turn when one of them called out her name. "Sam!" She cried out happily and limped towards him as fast as she could. Dean got there first and she threw her arms around him, drinking in his warm, safe presence before finally falling into a dead faint.

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Phew! So how was that? I feel like I might have rushed it. I might go back later and revise it.

Also, as to the obvious plot hole, I realise there's only one way to kill a djiinn, but honestly where was she going to get a knife coated in llamia's blood? I figured that even if they were super strong their heads would still moosh if you hit it enough times and I mean really, how many things can still kick around with a mooshed in head?

So as to the next chapter, how's Dan going to react now he knows about her feelings? And Sam knows too, how embarrassing! And those naughty angels how did things end with them?

All will be revealed next chapter, hopefully, as long as I can come up with something…


	15. I've Got Your Number

Dean hadn't let Sarah out of his sight since finding her again. Not even to go to the toilet, which had grossed Sam out to no end. The fear he felt was worse than when he'd been infected with ghost sickness and the only feeling that rivalled it was his guilt. As he looked down at her gray complexion and abraded skin, it was like a vice was crushing his insides. This was all his fault. Apparently the angels could read minds and they had picked up on his growing obsession with the girl from another dimension. He'd thought it would be easy to ignore her, she was nothing that he generally found appealing, but she'd slowly wormed her way in without even trying. All she'd done was care about him, Sam and Bobby, show pride in the way they constantly risked themselves over and over; she made him feel like he really was some kind of hero.

And now he knew she had feelings for him too. But it didn't matter. Castiel had released them from his heavenly time-out room, assuring them that now she had passed their test she didn't have to worry about any more angelic intervention, but it was too late. Dean now knew she was well and truly on the supernatural radar and he was damned if anyone, angel or demon, figured out just how much of a liability of his she'd become. He would make sure she stayed away from him, no matter what.

###

Sarah didn't know whether she should feel flattered or offended. She decided to go with flattered because honestly she could think of a million fan girls who'd give both arms and all of their toes to have the Winchester brothers treat them like they were spun glass. It had been two days since her 'exam' and she'd yet to have a moment without either one of them by her side. Dean had even protested when, soon after waking, she'd wanted a shower. It had degenerated into a heated debate which had ended in the compromise of her leaving the door ajar and calling out every few minutes to prove she was still there.

She was just relieved that they both seemed the same with her. They'd told her about the angels and while she was still pissed off, she could see their logic. What she still hadn't gotten over though, was how Castiel had given them VIP passes to her djinn-fuelled dream. She'd been beyond mortified and at first thought that their heavy-handed babysitting had been pity. However they hadn't asked and she didn't have the words to express how much she didn't want to go there. And so as time passed she began to entertain the hope that they thought her dream was the djinn messing with her subconscious rather than simply her playing out her Deanish fantasies.

Now, a few days from Halloween, they were in Nebraska enjoying a short break before the next monster popped up. Sarah was beyond excited. She loved Halloween and although it was starting to take off in Australia this was her first time to really experience it in all its trick-or-treating, mass advertised splendour. Like in past Halloween episodes Sam and Dean were being predictable wet blankets about the whole thing. However they couldn't curb her enthusiasm or her obsession with buying Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins, Caramel Apple soda and various other Halloween products.

Dean narrowed his eyes at her as she sipped her soda, "You know it's people like you that turn this holiday into a joke." Sarah just stuck out her tongue and took another swig. All of his teasing didn't stop him from stealing her candy whenever he thought she wasn't looking. And she did look the other way every time, he just looked so adorable while he was doing it. She'd bought a sack of candy in anticipation of trick-or-treaters. Sam had gently broken it to her that they were staying in a motel and the chances were slim they'd get any, but Sarah didn't care. Odds were there'd be none left anyway the way Dean kept hoeing into her stash.

She went into the bathroom to put the finishing touches on her make-up. The three of them were about to head out to the local pub to have drinks and play some pool. It felt nice to be doing something so normal for a change. The boys must have thought so to if their relaxed expressions were anything to go by. Sarah gave her reflection one more look over before smiling at herself. Tonight was going to be a good night.

###

Tonight sucked. She sent a glowering look over at the couple at the bar, but they were oblivious and seemed totally into each other, the hot blond in the slinky black dress practically in his lap. Within ten minutes of arriving Dean had spied the girl, who'd looked like she'd just wandered off a modelling shoot, given them an unrepentant smirk and sidled over. America's Next Top Model looked ecstatic with the attention and he'd stayed there ever since. The only thing worse than watching as he tuned the hotty, was the thinly veiled, pitying look Sam kept shooting her.

"You want to get out of here," he asked for maybe the third time and Sarah gave him an overly bright smile.

"No way," she said, "This is our first night out in forever. I'm having fun." And with sheer determination she turned from the canoodlers and focused on Sam. She even thought she was doing a pretty good job of not noticing them when Dean sauntered over with a grin.

"You two sticking around? Cause I'm thinking I might head back early." He gave them an insinuating smirk and without waiting for a reply snagged the keys and headed back to his 'date'.

She watched the two of them walk off and felt a squeezing sensation in her chest that matched the burning behind her eyes. She gave Sam a weak smile, "I think I'll go for a walk." He started to protest but she waved him off, "Come on it's barely 10 o'clock and this town is perfectly safe." As she stood and grabbed her purse she gestured to another cute girl by the bar, "Why don't you chat up ol' red? She's been eyeing you off since we got here." Without saying anything else she headed out the door before she could truly embarrass herself.

As she walked Sarah told herself she was an idiot for feeling hurt. She had no hold on Dean, in fact he'd never given her any real indication that he cared for her more than a friend. And he had been a good friend, who was she to begrudge him some R and R?

It wasn't a big town and before she knew it she was standing at the stairs that led to their motel room. She sat down on the bottom step not bothering to head up to the room. While she'd sort of come to terms with him banging random chicks there was no way she was ready to walk in on him with one.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there before the door opened up above her and the girl emerged adjusting the skirt of her dress. She passed Sarah and gave her a satisfied smirk. Sarah felt her ire rise before sighing, it wasn't her fault.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly. She gave her a small smile and held out her hand, "I was rude before. I'm Sarah."

The girl's eyes softened and she took Sarah's hand, "Beth."

"You like him don't you?" Sarah shrugged and gave her a self-depreciating smile. Beth looked at her for a long moment before giving her a commiserating grin, "Wanna know a secret? We didn't do anything." As she left she paused for a second before throwing over her shoulder, "I think he was too busy thinking about someone else."

Sarah broke into a huge grin, not caring if Beth was still watching. She'd been wrong. Tonight had been a good night after all.

She practically skipped up the steps before knocking on the door, waiting for Dean to let her in. He answered the door shirtless and tense, as if prepared for a confrontation. Sarah just gave him a sunny smile and walked past him into the room. Looking rather dazed Dean followed her in, watching as she sat on the bed and pulled her shoes off. Finally after minutes of awkward silence she took pity on him. "I'm sorry Dean."

"You are?" He said looking even more confused.

"When I watched the show I always had a thing for you. And ever since coming here and actually getting to know you my feelings just seemed to get bigger. But I realise that I've made you uncomfortable and I'm sorry. I think you'll always be my favourite hero but it won't get in the way of our friendship. I realise now that it was just a silly crush."

"It was?" He asked almost indignantly.

"Yep." Giving him one last smile she got up and went into the bathroom to change. When she came out ten minutes later he still hadn't moved, but she ignored him as she climbed into their bed and reached over to turn off the lamp. "Goodnight Dean."

"Goodnight," he all but snapped and it was all Sarah could do to prevent herself rolling around in a horizontal victory dance. She now knew without a doubt that he had feelings for her and for whatever misguided reason he was pushing her away. She was still smiling as she fell asleep, _the poor guy's not going to know what hit him_.

###

The next morning Dean was in a foul mood. He didn't know what his problem was, everything had gone perfectly last night. He'd clearly drawn the lines and she had accepted them. Hell she'd done better than accept them. He'd been prepared for a scene, or water works, he'd even been willing to let her hit him. Instead she'd smiled and then said, what was pretty much, the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to him. All he'd wanted to do was kiss her when she told him he was her favourite hero and then he'd processed the rest of the sentence_ she was over him. _Dean snorted and both Sam and Sarah gave him a wary look out of the corner of their eyes. They'd both been avoiding him this morning and he couldn't blame them, he'd not been good breakfast company.

Sam still hadn't spoken to him since dragging his ass out the door last night to give him a serve about the way he'd acted. Dean had had nothing to say, he knew he'd been a dick. Although her cheerful mood the following morning had seemed to reassure him, Sam still didn't seem to be in a hurry to forgive him.

And then he experienced what had to be his first bout of luck since crawling out of the pit when Sam logged onto his computer. It seemed a couple of towns over some poor guy had swallowed a fistful of razorblades with his Halloween candy, it sounded like their kind of gig. Dean smiled for the first time that day, he was beyond ready to kill something.


	16. Bad Company

Sarah watched as Sam pulled apart the hex bag they'd found at the first victim's home. It looked like they were definitely dealing with a witch and if the info Sam was pulling up on the hex's ingredients was anything to go by, it was a seriously powerful one. Dean entered the room, having just returned from checking up on the victim, Luke Wallace.

"Hey Dean, see this?" Sam held up a kind of pretty dried plant, "This herb has been extinct for over 200 years. And that," he pointed to a tarnished silver coin, "It's Celtic and old, really old."

"What about this?" Dean asked picking up something small and charred.

"Dude I wouldn't, you're looking at the blackened metacarpal bone of a newborn infant."

Dean quickly dropped the black chunk and Sarah stared down at it in horror, "You're telling me that's some poor baby's finger?"

"Thumb," Sam corrected. "But don't worry," he hurried to add when he saw her expression, "It's over 100 years old." Somehow that still didn't make her feel any better.

"Witches," Dean muttered with disgust as he dusted off his hands, "They're so freakin' skeevy." Sarah had yet to meet one, but based on the contents of the hex bag and what she'd seen in previous episodes she had to agree.

They continued researching until Sam let Dean know there'd been another death across town. "How the hell do you know that?" Sarah asked, confused.

Sam just held up his phone, "Police scanner App."

"Wha…"

"Do not even ask," Dean said as he grabbed his jacket, "Because he will actually try to explain it to you." Sarah laughed at Sam's wounded look and warned them to be careful.

###

The second death turned out to be a teenager called Jenny, who'd had her face boiled off while bobbing for apples. The boys had found a second, identical hex bag but no clear link between the two victims other than the fact that they both seemed to have been nice, normal people. With some more research Sam had been able to uncover that the witch didn't have a grudge against the victims but was instead working a spell to raise Samhain, patron demon of Halloween. Judging by the lore he was not someone they wanted kicking around, because he came with a whole host of zombies, ghouls and other nasties. Their problem now was that to make the spell work the witch only had to commit one more blood sacrifice before midnight tomorrow, which really didn't give them much wriggle room when they had no idea who she was.

The next day Dean found their first real break while staking out the first victim's house and devouring the last of Sarah's candy. It turned out that the pretty blond the boys had met last night, Tracy Davis, had not only been the Wallace's babysitter, she had also been Jenny's best friend and present at her death. Their hope that they'd hit the jackpot was confirmed when Sam hacked into the local school database and found that sweet Tracy had recently been suspended for a violent altercation with her art teacher.

"Well," Dean said clearing his voice and tugging at his collar, "Looks like I'm going back to school."

"Dude that is a terrible Rodney Dangerfield impression."

Dean just gave him a look of disgust, "Everybody's a critic."

"Do you think I could do this one?" Sarah asked suddenly.

Dean opened his mouth, most likely in protest, but Sarah quickly continued, "I mean come on, it's a high school, the witch's been suspended and it's broad daylight."

Sam gave her a considering look before saying, "It would give me time to do more of a background check and I mean she did great last time."

Sarah shot him a grateful smile before training the full force of her puppy-dog eyes on Dean, "Pleeeease."

"Fine," he barked, throwing his hands up in irritation, "But hurry up."

"Yes sir!" Sarah said happily as she took off for the bathroom.

###

Sarah hadn't been in a high school since she left hers four years ago and as they walked down the hall towards the art department she couldn't help but stick her head into each door as they passed. She found it neardishly fascinating just how different Australia and America were. She'd always thought they were pretty similar but the longer she stayed here the more differences she found. She did like how they kept their high schools all in the one building, rather than spread out in single story blocks. It had always been a pain in the ass hoofing it from one building to the other back home.

They must have been doing some kind of Halloween themed unit, because when they reached the art room it was filled with various masks from colourful to creepy. She eyed off a particularly disturbing silicone one hanging from the ceiling. _Good God _she thought _kids sure were angsty these days._ She noticed Dean eying the same one with a distant, haunted look. "I think someone needs to lay off the Rob Zombie flicks," she joked.

"Heh," Dean murmured. The corners of his mouth turned up but she could see something about it had disturbed him. He looked further into the room where a bunch of kids were quietly working on various projects and grinned, "Now that brings back memories."

Sarah turned and spotted a dopey looking teen who'd fashioned an enormous bong out of clay. She just rolled her eyes, "Are they even allowed to make those?"

Dean gave her an amused shrug and went to move closer when who she assumed was the art teacher entered. "You the ones who wanted to talk to me?" He asked with a cheerful smile.

"Mr Harding…" Dean started only to have the teacher break in enthusiastically.

"Call me Don, even my students call me Don."

"Ok Don," Dean said as they flashed their badges, "We just wanted to ask you a few questions about one of your students, Tracy Davis. We understand the two of you had a violent altercation."

Don shook his head ruefully, "Yeah, I'm lucky the principal walked by when he did. I thought Tracy was going to claw my eyes out. I'd just been rapping with her about her work, I thought it had gotten disturbing lately and wasn't appropriate."

Dean raised his eyebrows, "More disturbing than those guys?" He asked gesturing to the creepy masks.

Don gave them a discerning smile, "She'd started drawing pages of disturbing images filled with blood and people committing horrible crimes. And then she'd draw herself into the pictures actively participating."

"Do you know where we could find her now?" Sarah asked.

"Probably her apartment," Don said.

"She has an apartment?"

"Mmhm, she arrived here about a year ago, an emancipated teen. I can only imagine what her parents were like."

They thanked him for his time and turned to leave. "Um I hope you don't mind me asking, but an Australian FBI agent. That's a little weird isn't it?"

Sarah just smiled, "Watched a lot of X-files as a kid. Scully was my hero."

As soon as they were out in the hallway Sarah turned to Dean, "Oh he's definitely in on it."

"Mr 'call me Don' Harding ?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"Please, is there any doubt? He feeds us all that bullshit about being his students' best friend and then sells old Tracy down the river without even asking why we needed the information."

"He could just be a douche."

"Oh he's a douche alright, but I'm betting he's an evil douche."

###

She could tell Dean wasn't down with her 'Don the evil douche' theory, but she got a warm glow when he had called Sam to have him check the guy out anyway. They spent the next two hours or so checking the girls apartment and contacting her friends. It seemed like nobody knew where their little 'Samantha' had flown off to.

The two of them were feeling pretty dejected as they got out of the car and headed towards their room. Halfway there they were waylaid by a little fat kid in an astronaut suit. "Trick-or-treat," he said holding out his plastic pumpkin bag.

"It's a motel. We don't have any candy," Dean said flatly.

"Don't be silly," Sarah broke in, excited at her first real trick-or-treating action. "We've got plenty in the car."

"It's gone," Dean said flatly.

Sarah gave him an incredulous look, "What do you mean it's gone? You ate it all?" He gave her a look that clearly stated 'duh'. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have bought more while we were out."

"I don't know if you've noticed but we haven't really got the time," he snapped.

"Well you obviously had the time to eat it," Sarah shot back.

The kid watched their exchange, obviously not impressed, "I want candy."

"I think you've had enough," Dean said with a condescending smirk. Sarah went to elbow him for being insensitive but was distracted by the death glare the boy aimed at Dean. She hadn't seen a look that malicious outside of the Omen, or maybe Children of the Corn _I guess that kid really does want candy._

They ended up backing away slowly before making a break for their room. "Holy crap, I'd watch my back if I were you." They stared at each other and burst out laughing as they opened the door, but they both quickly froze as they realised there were three men in the room instead of just one.

Dean yanked her back behind him, looking over at Sam to check he was alright. Other than seeming tense they couldn't see anything wrong with him. "What are you doing here Castiel? And who the hell are you?" He directed at the hulking black guy by the window."

As usual Castiel ignored his questions, "This raising of Samhain, have you stopped it?"

"Why?"

"Dean, have you located the witch? Have you killed it?" Castiel insisted.

"No, but we know who she is," Sarah offered.

Castiel sighed like they'd disappointed him. "Apparently the witch knows who you are too," he said moving to the bedside table and picking up a hex bag. "We located this in the wall of your room. If we hadn't found it one or all of you would be dead now." He paused for a second, "Do you know where the witch is now?"

Dean shook his head before offering, "But we're working on it."

Castiel sighed again, "That is unfortunate."

"Look," Dean snapped, "Why do you even care?"

"The raising of Samhain is one of the 66 seals." At their confused silence he explained, "When Lucifer was trapped in hell they used 600 mystical seals to contain him. However, to release him only 66 seals need to be broken. You, Dean, were sent to hell to break the first seal."

"But I didn't break anything," Dean protested.

"Exactly. The first seal needed a righteous man to spill blood in hell and Sarah saved you before you could succumb to the temptation." He shrugged his shoulders, "They must have found another innocent soul because the seal was broken a week ago. Now we must do all we can to stop the remaining seals from being broken."

"So 599 seals to choose from and they only need 65 more? That sounds like a stupid system to me," Sarah said.

"You will watch your tongue," the other angel said in a low voice that made Sarah step closer to Dean.

"And who are you again?" Dean demanded.

He turned and took a step forward, but Castiel held up a hand to stop him. "This is Uriel, he's what you might call a specialist."

"And what exactly does he specialise in?" Dean asked.

"I suggest you leave town as soon as possible," was his only answer.

"What are you going to do," Sarah whispered, although she had the sick sensation that she already knew the answer.

"We've run out of time. The witch is powerful and has cloaked herself from even our methods. We must destroy the town before they can summon Samhain. We cannot allow the seal to be broken."

"You can't just kill everyone," Sam said horrified, "You're angels, you're supposed to be merciful."

"Says who," Uriel said with a superior smirk.

Dean's eyes narrowed, "Well there's been a change of plans boys, because if you want to smite this town you're going to have to do it with us still in it."

Uriel scoffed, "You think you can stop us. I'll drag you out of here boy."

Dean's gaze didn't falter, "You'll have to kill me first. And I imagine that would make daddy pretty unhappy on account of his big plans for me." He turned back to Castiel, "We can stop this. We will find the witch and stop the summoning and nobody has to die."

Uriel looked furious, "Castiel! I will not let these mud monkeys…"

"Enough! I suggest Dean, that you move quickly," Castiel said and the two of them disappeared.

Dean took a deep breath and looked across at her, "Sarah…"

"Don't even say it," she said with a game smile, "We either do this together or fail together."

"Well hell," Dean said, "I guess we better gather our torches and pitchforks. We got us a witch to BBQ."

####################################################

Author Note: And just like that the seals are broken and all hell will begin to break loose. There will be more info on the poor guy who took Dean's place later. Stay tuned for some more Dean/Sarah developments coming soon.


	17. I Wish You Would

Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while. I've had the stupid flu and these horrible headaches and looking at a computer monitor seemed to make them worse. Anyway I hope the chapter's alright, I had quite a few painkillers while I wrote it.

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Dean rolled his eyes at the excitement he could see in Sarah's face. They were, at that moment, breaking into the local high school hoping to get some solid information about the location of their witch. Sarah's hunch about the douche bag art teacher looked to be right on the money. When Sam had poked around in his online history they could find nothing on the guy before he moved here 18 months ago. Which in this day and age may as well be a neon, flashing sign that said guilty. The real question however, was why hadn't the school noticed anything? What state was the education system in that they now trusted our kids to centuries old warlocks?

Dean lost his train of thought as Sarah bent down in front of him to try to prize open the desk draws. It was a sickness. Ever since letting Sarah know they were never going to happen he hadn't been able to think about anything else. It was like he was suddenly hyper aware of her every move and although the flood of naughty daydreams was not entirely unwelcome the unsatisfied build-up they left behind definitely was. He had to get this girl out of his system before something ruptured.

He couldn't even work off his frustrations with someone else. There was no way he was going to relive the experience with Brittney….or was it Brigit? Either way it had been embarrassing and awkward. He'd had a green light, he'd been raring to go and then the moment came to seal the deal and his interest had just…deflated. It seemed that for the moment, for whatever messed up reason, Sarah was the only one who interested him.

_I'm just confused _he told himself firmly. Dean had had plenty of flings before, some more meaningful than others, but Sarah was the first girl that he could honestly say he was friends with. Not to mention the fact that she was one of the few girls that he had ever marked as off limits. Really, when you thought about it, it was no wonder that his feelings were getting confused. _That's right _Dean thought to himself, pleased that he'd worked it all out. _She was just a friend_, his eyes narrowed on the jean hugged ass in front of him and he imagined thrusting up between those soft thighs so hard he…

"Dean!" Sam whispered harshly, "What are you doing?"

Dean blushed, realising that he'd unconsciously taken a step closer to Sarah who was obliviously going through the drawers. "Nothing," he muttered moving over to the filing cabinet. _She's just a friend._

###

Sarah turned at the loud thump and saw Sam using a mallet to break into a locked draw. He cracked it open and she winced at the contents, a literal handful of tiny bones.

"These all belong to children," Sam said needlessly.

"And I'm guessing he's not saving them for the dog," Dean quipped.

Sarah's eyes hardened, "What say we pay ol' Dangerous Minds a visit?"

The trick-or-treaters were out in full force as they crept along Don's street in the Impala. They pulled up in front of a nondescript house. It didn't look like anyone was home, except for the basement light which was switched on.

"Ok," Dean said turning to Sarah, "You stay here."

"But…"

"Don't you watch movies? You follow us in there and you're going to throw us off and more than likely become the guy's hostage."

Sarah sighed and huddled into her seat, "Fine," she mumbled.

He gave her a reassuring smile as he handed her a loaded handgun, "Good girl."

She wished them luck and then watched as they crept up the front porch and picked the lock. She tensed when not five minutes later she heard two muffled shots. She quickly got out of the car and moved towards the front door. She knew Dean had told her to stay, but the gunfire surely meant only one of two things; either the witch was dead or they were in trouble. She paused at the door and sent out a heartfelt prayer _Castiel if you're listening I'm at 93 Canter Place and I could really use your help. _She peeked out of one eye, but when there was no reply she sighed and entered the dark house.

Feeling her way along the corridor wall she made her way towards the light coming from the open basement door. She took in the scene in front of her as she crept down the stairs; Sam and Dean were sprawled out on the concrete floor, their faces in pain, Don was on the floor dead and covered in blood and Tracy had her back to her chanting in some guttural sounding language. Dean did not look pleased to see her but he jerked his head in Tracy's direction indicating that she should take the witch out.

Although she knew that in hindsight she'd worry at the ease in which she pulled the trigger, Sarah didn't hesitate before raising the gun and shooting the cute cheerleader. The shot threw the blond forward making her curse and drop the blood filled goblet. Unfortunately it only caught her in the shoulder and she quickly threw a hex bolt back at Sarah lifting her off her feet and onto Sam.

"You bitch!" Tracy snarled, "You think you can stop this? I've been waiting 600 years to…"

"Close your eyes," she heard Castiel murmur and she immediately clamped them shut. There was a blinding flash even through her eyelids and she heard Tracy scream. "You can open them."

Sarah cautiously peeked through one eye and saw Castiel standing over Tracy's slightly charred corpse. "Is she dead?" She asked although she already knew the answer.

"Definitely extra crispy," Dean confirmed as he helped her to her feet. She winced holding her middle. It felt like she'd run headlong into an electric fence. Dean scowled at her, "I told you to stay put."

"You're welcome," she said dryly.

"So that's it?" Sam asked, "The seal's safe."

"For another 600 years," Castiel said. "I'm glad. I didn't think you could do it but I'm glad." There was a fluttering sound and he was gone.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Dean said sarcastically as he and Sam started to clean up. Sarah asked if she could help but only got a terse, "Go stand in the corner." So she stood back as they worked. She took a moment to admire the way the muscles moved under his shirt as he moved Don's body. _Eww, _should she be concerned that Dean moving dead bodies turned her on? They arranged the bodies as if they'd had a kinky lover's quarrel and then, as was standard, set the whole place on fire.

They only stopped briefly to pick up their gear, before heading back to Bobby's, both the boys wanting to look into this Lucifer and his seals business. Sarah smirked pretty sure Dean just wanted to get back so he could give his baby a cleanup. When they'd emerged from the room earlier that day they'd found that the chunky astronaut had pelted the Impala with eggs after being denied his candy. She smiled, apocalypse aside she thought it had been a pretty great first Halloween.

She looked over at Sam who'd been pretty withdrawn the last half hour, "You ok?"

"Hmm?" He said distracted, "Oh just thinking about the angels. They're just not how I'd always pictured them, you know?"

"Told you they were dicks," Dean chimed in.

Sarah glared at the back of his head before adding, "I think it just make them more realistic. I mean we were right this time, but they did have a point; what's 1000 lives compared to billions." At Sam's pointed look she hurried on, "Don't get me wrong we were right about it. I think that just like there's different kinds of people there must be different kinds of angels. Just cause these two are narrow minded and dickish doesn't mean they all are."

"Yeah," Dean said actually being insightful for once, "Don't let this one thing sway you on the whole religious thing. I mean Castiel did back us up in the end."

Sam nodded thoughtfully before staring back out the window. "It just makes me wonder what else they're wrong about." Dean and Sarah were silent, both of them not sure what to say.

###

Dean was giving her that look again. She was rummaging around the bottom draw pretending she couldn't see the pie dish that was right in front of her. She knew what she was doing, she just hoped that he didn't. He'd been giving her hungry looks for days now and she was done guessing when he would make a move. It didn't look like the famous Winchester resolve was ever going to break. The worst part about it was it gave Sarah time to consider everything. What did she really think was going to happen? Even if they both gave in to this thing between them there was still an apocalypse coming and she was still a girl from another dimension that could wink back at any time. Maybe Dean did have the right idea.

She sighed softly and grabbed the pie dish, Dean was right; they were better off friends. She straightened and turned to find Dean standing directly behind her. "Um…you want cherry or peach?"

He gave her a slow melting look before smiling, "Peach, definitely peach." She moved to the bench and started mixing ingredients and Dean came up beside her, "Want any help?"

She gave a nervous jerk towards the stove, "You can stir the filling for me." They worked in companionable silence for a while and Sarah fought to get her heartbeat under control. _What was with him today? _

He was suddenly beside her again and gave her one of those smiles that made her all lightheaded, "All done." He raised his hand to her cheek, "You've got some flour on you." They looked into each other's eyes and Sarah wasn't sure who made the first move but they were suddenly kissing. They devoured each other with all the pent up desire that had been building the last few weeks. Sarah made a soft mewling sound as Dean's lips left hers and travelled down her jaw. Her hands fisted his shirt as she urgently pulled it out of his jeans and then skimmed her fingers along the bare skin underneath.

"God I want you," Dean said hoarsely had he lifted her up onto the dusty countertop, ingredients and utensils crashing to the floor. His eyes narrowed on hers as he deliberately slide his hand under her skirt, along the outside of her thigh, "Do you know how many times I've dreamed about having you here, like this?" Sarah leaned forwards to kiss him again but must have miscalculated because she fell into a heap on the floor.

She winced and opened her eyes _hey who turned out the lights? _She realised she was lying on her bedroom floor at Bobby's. _God dammit _she thought letting her head thunk painfully back onto the hardwood floor. That made the third time this week, if something didn't happen soon she was going to go stark raving mad. "Bloody Dean sexy-ass Winchester," she grumbled as she pulled herself back into bed. She huffed her way into a more comfortable position fully aware of the fact that there was no way she was getting back to sleep after a dream like that.


	18. Hot For Teacher

Author's Note: I was going to break this one up but it didn't seem like there was enough for two chapters. I think Sarah and Dean are almost there now and there will be some definite lemons in the near future.

Thanks again to all the people reviewing and favouriting, keeping me writing when I should be doing a hundred other things.

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Sarah winced as the boys snapped at each other. While she and Dean had been out looking for the witch, the disgruntled angel Uriel had let slip to Sam that Dean remembered everything about his time in hell. And Sam, ever the sweet little brother, had spent the better part of a week trying to get Dean to open up about it.

"I'm telling you I don't remember," Dean snapped as he downed another shot. _Did that make it five or seven? Man he can hold his booze_.

Sam opened his mouth to reply when they were interrupted, again, by their waiter. "Desert time, am I right? You guys have got to try our Ice Cream Extreme." He gave us a ridiculously perky grin, "It's extreme."

Sarah choked back laughter at Dean and Sam's identical looks of frustrated disgust. "No extremities thanks…" Sam started.

"Actually I'd love one," Sarah said.

"Awesome!" Their waiter glowed as he hurried off to get her desert.

She caught their glares and smiled innocently, "What? It sounds extreme."

"Hey Sam?" She asked before he could start up again, "Can you get me a drink please?"

He looked at her nonplussed, "Why me?"

"Because Dean would never get off his lazy ass to get it for me." Dean saluted her with his pretzel.

"Just wait for the waiter, I'm sure he'd think it would be 'awesome' to get you a drink."

"But who knows how long it takes to make ice creme extreme? And I'm sooo thirsty."

"Fine," he sighed and huffed off to the bar. Sarah just grinned; he was so adorable when he sulked.

She turned back to Dean. "Dean," she started pinning him with a stern stare, "Why are you being a dick about this? Just tell him the truth."

He glared right back at her, "What do you know about it?"

"I know that you're lying and now Sam does too," she shot back despite the way her insides quailed at his hard look. She tried a softer tact, "Look you're only drawing this out. If you don't want to talk about it just tell him that. He just wants you to know that he's there for you if you need him."

"You know what he's like. He gets teary eyed reading the puppies for sale section of the paper, what do you think this is going to do to him?"

"Yeah well repressing everything and making him think you're turning into some kind of boozy Dean Martin wannabe is not going to make him feel any better. You need to…" She broke off as Sam returned with her drink.

He looked from Sarah's angry face to Dean's mutinous one, "Everything ok?"

"Fine," Dean bit out. Then he took a deep breath and went on, "Look Sammy Uriel was right I do remember everything. I'm just working through it slowly and the second I need someone for an Oprah moment I promise to come running for your shoulder."

Sam gave him a relieved smile, "I'm glad Dean, seriously, take as much time as you need."

Dean had a funny half surprised half pleased look on his face as he nodded at Sam. Sarah grinned at him and just out of Sam's sight mouthed _I told you so. _He just smirked back at her and corked her in the arm. "Owww! Bloody hell Dean!"

"I thought it would make the ice cream more extreme if you had to eat it with a dead arm." He turned back to a perturbed Sam with a self-satisfied smirk, "So where are we off to next?"

Sam looked between the two of them obviously not sure if he should say something. "There hasn't been much going on lately," he started as he flicked open his laptop, "Just the regular crank UFO stuff…there is one possible haunting," he trailed off as the waiter returned with Sarah's desert.

Sarah ooohed appreciatively as he deposited an enormous sunday, decked out in colourful toppings, complete with two sparklers on top. The waiter beamed as if he'd just given birth before leaving her to her decadent confection.

"You were saying?" Sarah said to Sam as she fended off Dean with her good hand.

"Oh come on you can't eat all that," Dean whined as he took another swipe at a cherry.

"Oh no buddy, not even a lick." Dean sent her a pleading look and she folded like the hopeless case she was. "Here," she groused pushing the spare spoon his way.

Sam sat watching the display with a slightly mystified expression before continuing, "As I was saying, Washington, possible haunting. There have been several sightings of a ghost haunting the showers at the local women's facility."

Dean choked on a mouthful ice cream, "Women, showers, we gotta save these people."

Sarah flicked some ice crème at him, "You're such a pig."

"I don't know what you mean," Dean garbled at her, his mouth overfull with melted ice crème.

###

Sarah lay belly down on the bed, her legs swinging in the air as she surfed the net. The boys had dropped her off a couple of hours ago before taking off to scope out the town. Suddenly the door banged open as Dean lunged into the bathroom and started puking his guts up.

"Oh my god," Sarah said as she leapt off the bed and went to the bathroom door, "Are you ok?" Her only reply was more heaving and the wet slapping of Dean filling up the toilet bowl. She cautiously approached and handed him a washcloth. He snatched it off her gratefully before thrusting a crinkled piece of paper with a coin stencilled on the front.

"Look this up would you," he wheezed between heaves.

As Sarah looked up the coin Dean attempted to fill her in on what was going on in the town. "You're kidding me, a real wishing well that brings teddy bears to life and helps you win the lotto? Well that's kind of cool."

"Obviously not that cool," Dean groaned and by the echo she assumed his head was back in the bowl.

The page finished loading in front of her, "Oh I got it. The coin is Babylonian." She paused as she scanned the page, "Oh you're not going to like this. It says here that it was forged by the priests of Tiamat, that's the serpent on the front, to sow the seeds of chaos."

"Oh she sewed them alright," Dean moaned.

Sarah looked back towards the bathroom, "Look, are you sure you don't need a doctor?"

"Just keep reading!"

"Jeeze," she muttered before calling out louder, "Apparently this has been done before and generally ends pretty badly for the town involved. After someone uses the cursed coin to make a wish the well is activated and anyone can wish for anything. The only catch is that the wishes become twisted versions of what the wisher really wanted."

"Yeah yeah, how do we turn it off?"

"Looks like we need the original wisher to unwish his wish. Hah I think I just made a tongue twister."

"Very cute," Dean said sarcastically and Sarah turned to see him standing in the doorway with the washcloth pressed to his mouth.

"What did you wish for anyway?" She asked.

"Sandwich," he said and Sarah actually saw the poor guy's stomach heave.

"You are unbelievable," she said in exasperation as she took his hand and led him over to the bed. "Lie down," she ordered and he obediently flopped onto the bed with his arm thrown over his face. Sarah grabbed the empty ice bucket and a damp washcloth and headed back over to him. She put the bucket next to him on the floor. "Here," she said moving his arm out of the way and putting the washcloth on his forehead.

He opened one eye to squint up at her, "And what would you have wished for?"

"Definitely not a sandwich," she said tartly.

He gave her a teasing look, "What secret wish does little Sarah have?"

_You _she thought suddenly flustered. As if reading her thoughts his look became more serious and he opened his mouth to say something else when Sam walked through the door.

Sarah jumped up from the bed guiltily and Sam gave them a strange look, "What happened to you?"

"Evil sandwich," Sarah said quickly and gratefully launched into the story of the cursed coin.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked finally, "The little girl and her parents, the lottery winner and the kid perving on his teacher all seemed to make their wishes in the last two weeks. How are we supposed to find out who wished first, and for what?"

"It helps when they advertise," Dean said triumphantly showing them both the paper. There was an engagement notice for a nerdy middle aged looking guy and a girl that appeared way too hot for him. "Wesley Mondale and Ms Hope Lynne Casey have announced their surprise engagement. This goes back a month."

"Seems like a good place to start," Sarah agreed.

###

The three of them stood outside a fairly old, but quaint house as Sam knocked on the door. Hope quickly answered it and he gave her a big smile, "Ms Casey? We're from Van Halen florists, Wesley made an appointment with us to go over some floral designs with you."

Hope looked ecstatic. "Come in, come in," She said leading them into the living room. "Wesley," she happily admonished, "You didn't tell me you called the florists for the wedding. You are just the best!"

Wesley just looked confused, "Ah…"

"I'll go get my folder," Hope continued, appearing not to notice and skipped out of the room.

"So Wesley," Dean said trying his best to look intimidating, "How's it going?"

"It's Wes…" Dean didn't hold back his smirk as Wes trailed off, obviously realising that he was being threatened. He looked over him and Sam, "Hey aren't you the health inspectors?"

"Yeah, and florists on the side," Sam said.

"Plus FBI. And on Thursday we're teddy bear doctors," Dean added sarcastically. "But that's not important. What's important is what we know Wes."

"I see you're a coin collector," Sarah broke in looking at the different coins on display on the wall behind him, "Those are nice."

Poor Wes was looking more uncomfortable by the second, "They were my Grandfather's."

"You didn't happen to lose one recently?" Dean asked pointedly, "And by lose I mean drop it into the fountain at Lucky Chin's and make a wish."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he hedged.

He was saved from saying anything further by Hope's return to the room brandishing an enormous folder. "Ok then. I have a lot of ideas," she said brightly, "Now I know we don't have all the money in the world. Wes is in between jobs right now." Wes looked embarrassed but Hope just smiled at him adoringly, "It's ok though, it just means more time for me." Dean watched Sarah try to hold back an appalled grin.

Hope flipped open the folder to show them a complicated looking bouquet. "I was thinking a Japanese ikebana style thing," she said hopefully and then paused as she waited for their feedback.

Dean immediately turned to Sarah trusting her inner girlyness to come up with the right answer, but it was Sam who leapt into the fray with a sincere, "Yes I can see it." Dean and Sarah both murmured appreciatively as if they were all experiencing ikebana themed visions.

"So Hope," Sam said, "How'd you two lovebirds meet?"

Hope was only too happy to gush about that day one month ago when she first fell hopelessly in love with Wes. As the story went on Hope became more and more caught up with Wes; first touching and then making out with him as if she'd forgotten there was anyone else in the room. Dean looked on amused at Wes' uncomfortable expression, but he had to grab Sarah's arm as she moved forward to break the pair up. She shot him a glare that clearly said she wasn't cool with the way Wes was taking advantage of Hope. Dean just shook his head trying to silently let her know he was going to take care of it. She gave a indignant little huff and then simmered down beside him.

Dean was suddenly very glad he hadn't made any wishes about Sarah. Something told him that she wouldn't be half as fun if she became hopelessly bent on pleasing him _not that it wouldn't be fun for a while. _

Wes finally pushed her into the kitchen and Sarah went with her to help make some coffees. He and Sam turned back to Wes and squeezed out the whole story about where the coin came from and how it came to be in the well. They explained that he was going to have to take the wish back and they met their first resistance when he point blank refused. Dean took great pleasure in the fear in Wes' eyes as he and Sam threatened him, flashing their guns.

He was just trying to come up with a graceful way of getting Wes out of the house when Sarah and Hope returned with their coffee. "Dean, I was just explaining to Hope how you wanted to take Wes down to the shop, to show him the new orchids that came in last week. I figure she and I can just keep going through the designs here while you're gone."

He gave her a beaming smile, "That sounds perfect." He let his hand fall heavily on Wes' shoulder, the threat clear. "Come on lover-boy," he said happily as he steered him out the door.

Wes bitched the whole way to Lucky Chin's, bemoaning the fact that Dean and Sam had it so much better because they were good looking and how much better their lives must be. Dean just wanted to knock his teeth back into his throat, like he wouldn't give anything to take the last 40 or so cosmic years back. The douche bag didn't know how good he had it. A few blocks from Chin's they paused to watch some super charged kid tip a car full of bullies over and scream, "Kneel before Todd!"

Dean sighed and got out of the car, "I'll take care of Mighty Mouse you just get Wes to Lucky Chin's."

As the Impala sped off Dean cautiously approached Todd, "Hey kid, can I talk to you for a second?"

Todd turned to look at him dismissively, "Get out of my way."

_Whoa talk about rage issues _"Look," he said trying a different tact, "I get it, they're really mean. But you can't just…"

"You don't know what it's like. Every day, every day they make my life hell." Dean put out a restraining hand and the kid punched him lifting him off the ground and sending him flying a good five feet.

Dean lay on the asphalt stunned _friggin' hell._ "All right," he said as he pulled himself to his feet, "I hate to do this Todd." He punched the kid as hard as he could in the face. Dean felt like he'd broken his hand, but Todd didn't even flinch he just grabbed Dean round the throat and started to squeeze. Dean clawed at the kid's hands but couldn't budge them and he felt everything start to go grey around the edges.

Suddenly the kid's grip slackened and Todd looked down at him in confusion. Dean sent some heartfelt thanks to wherever Sam was and brushed the kid off, knowing he'd never be able to show his face again if he'd been ganked by an eight year old. "Ok," he wheezed "Just follow my lead and they won't bother you again." He stumbled backwards towards the terrified bullies, "Ok man, no more. No more ok?" He turned to the bullies, "I wouldn't bother this guy again if I were you." He watched the bullies scramble away and then winked at Todd before staggering towards Lucky Chin's.

He arrived just in time to see Hope walking away and an emotional Wes handing the coin over to Sam. "Dude what happened?" He asked as Wes walked dejectedly away.

Sam just rubbed the back of his head, "I think I got hit by lightning."

Dean was still processing that one when it hit him, "Where's Sarah?"

She wasn't anywhere in Lucky Chin's so they raced back to Wesley's house and sprinted through the open door. "Sarah!" Dean called out, but there was no reply. He found her in the kitchen, lying on the floor and surrounded by broken glass.

"Sarah!" She didn't respond and Dean yelled out for Sam to call an ambulance as he checked for wounds. He couldn't see any other than the gash on the back of her head.

"Don't bother," Sarah moaned as her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Dean with glassy eyes, "Bitch hit me with a teapot." She sounded so indignant that Dean had to smile. "She must have overheard some of what you were saying because she tried to follow you. When I tried to explain what had happened to her she bashed me over the head."

Sarah tried to sit up but Dean pinned her back down with a stern glare so she settled for peering up at him, "Did you save the day?"

"Don't we always?"

"My hero," she gave him a groggy smile before passing out again.

###

Later that night Sarah sat on the couch in their motel room watching TV as Dean slept with his head in her lap. Earlier he'd declared that she was concussed and was therefore not allowed to go to sleep. He'd insisted on staying up with her to make sure, but had soon slumped over in sleep. _Poor guy _she thought _seeing what his insides looked like and getting his ass handed to him by a minor all in the one day. _He'd looked uncomfortable so she'd pulled his head down into her lap. _And that was the only reason she'd done it_ she told herself firmly _it had nothing to do with being able to gaze down at him and run her fingers through his hair while he was oblivious_.

Dean flinched in his sleep and Sarah guessed he was having another hell nightmare. She tangled her hands in his and whispered gentle words until he pulled out of it. He looked up at her for a long moment before almost defiantly asking, "Well, are you going to ask me about it?"

Sarah looked back at him calmly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

She gave him a soft smile, "Phew, glad I dodged that bullet. It's way too late for that kind of angst."

His mouth curved up into a wry smile. "You know," she continued, "I don't really think you have to talk about it. It might be enough just knowing we're all here if you need us and we won't let them take you back again." She paused for a second thinking, "You know I always thought it was a very American thing, that whole going to shrinks and telling everybody everything you're feeling at any given moment. I miss my family and friends so much that sometimes I just ache with it, but you don't hear me crying into my pillow every night. I don't have to because I know I have you and Sam and Bobby, and it's enough. So if you need to talk about it, then go ahead and talk about it. But if you don't than I'm the last person who's going to try and drag it out of you."

They stared at each other for the longest moment and then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, Dean reached up and pulled her down for a kiss. Now up until this point they'd shared two real kisses before, one when Dean had been sleeping and the other when Sarah had been trying to distract him. In Sarah's mind both kisses had been fantastic and put all previous kisses to shame. But this kiss, this fully consensual and conscious kiss was perfect. His mouth was warm and firm and the fact that he had initiated it was sending little, squealing fireworks off in her head. His fingers moved through her hair as he deepened the kiss, both of them moaning softly as their tongues tangled together.

One of Dean's hands slid down her neck, moving further South as Sam's phone went off. They both pulled apart and Dean launched himself into a sitting position as Sam woke up and answered the phone. Sarah listened to the half conversation as she tried to pull herself together. She shot a quick glance at Dean who looked just as flustered and didn't look back at her.

_Great going _she thought as she heard Sam hang up the phone _things had officially become weird._


	19. Can't Fight This Feeling

Author's Note: I just wanted to let everyone know that one of my readers w8ing4rain has made my story an awesome banner. Please check it out here at http: / i940. photobucket. com/albums/ad243/w8ing-writer /WYWH. jpg (just remove the spaces)

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Things had ended pretty well in Concrete, Washington. All the wishes seemed to turn back; the little girl had her teddy and her parents back, the lottery winner had to give the money back everything seemed to have gone back to the way it should have been. _Almost everything_ Sarah thought sourly as she looked over at Dean for probably the millionth time that day. He was over with Sam at a pool table trying to hustle some poor backwoods chump. To be fair Dean had been pleasant, unendingly pleasant.

She understood what was going on, they'd thoroughly scuffed the invisible relationship line they'd been toeing the last couple of months and he was trying to deal with it, decide where they were now. She sighed; her main regret was Sam waking up before they could well and truly step over it. She felt like they were in some kind of weird limbo now, neither friends, nor anything else. She'd try to talk to him, several times now, but he just kept leaping behind the 'Sam buffer'. She guessed she'd just have to wait until he'd sorted himself out first.

"Mind if I sit here?" Came a soft throaty voice to her left. The girl sat down without waiting for a reply and Sarah stared at her wondering why she looked so familiar. It clicked, "Ruby," she said and the gorgeous brunette gave her a wry smile.

"How are you finding the Winchester ride so far?" She asked in a conversational tone.

"Ah…it has its moments," Sarah said not really sure how she should be reacting. Ruby wasn't exactly on their people you can trust list; she looked over at the boys wondering if she should send up the bat signal.

"Don't worry I'm just here to pass on some info. I know about Sam's house arrest."

"I'm…ah…sure you mean well and you seem to have helped him out while Dean was gone and all…" Sarah trailed off weakly. When she'd watched the show she hadn't minded Ruby and had even liked the idea of her coming over to the good guys and becoming a proper love interest, but now that she was actually here she couldn't help but side with Dean. She couldn't see how anyone could survive centuries, which when she thought about it would translate into some horrific number of hell years _damn her poor math skills, _and not become irrevocably twisted and evil. Dean was ready to turn after two months and there was no doubt in her mind that he was made of sterner stuff than this little piece of Wiccan fluff.

Ruby sighed, "But now the big dog's back and what the almighty Dean Winchester says goes."

Sarah's back stiffened at the slight, but she made sure to paste an embarrassed, uncomfortable smile on her face. No use burning any bridges until she could see which way the wind was really blowing. "You know," she started, "With a little time maybe…"

"What are you doing here?" Dean growled behind her. _Maybe with a lot of time _Sarah thought dryly.

"Trust me this is the last place I want to be too," Ruby said, "But I've been hearing whispers and thought you might want to know about it."

"We're not interested in demon pillow talk," Dean said.

"What have you heard?" Sam asked earning him an angry look from Dean.

"A girl called Anna escaped from a locked ward yesterday and the demons seem pretty keen on finding her. There are some heavy hitters that have turned up for the Easter egg hunt and the order is to take her alive."

"Who is she?" Sam asked.

"No idea, but I figure she's important and I thought that you guys might want to find her first," Ruby said with a helpful expression. Sarah watched Dean look away in disgust, feeling a blow-out imminent.

"Where is the hospital?" she asked trying to speed the conversation along. Ruby gave her an address on a scrap of paper and with one more pointed look at Sam she left.

Dean plucked the piece of paper out of Sarah's hand and after quickly scanning it snorted, wadding it up and tossing it onto the bar. "Town's a three day drive away," he said as if that settled it.

Sam looked at him incredulously, "We've travelled farther and for less."

"We've got better things to do than go on some goose-hunt for a girl who probably doesn't even exist."

"Look," Sarah said before they could really have a go at each other, "I know how you feel about her Dean, but even if she's part of some scheme aimed at pulling Sam to the dark side she's not going to feed us bogus info. It would only weaken her position. If she really is a bad guy then she's going to try and be as helpful as possible."

"If she's really a bad guy…" Dean scoffed.

"Bottom line," Sarah said firmly, "I'm with Sam on this. I think we should definitely check it out."

Dean looked from one to the other before throwing his hands up in disgust and stalking out of the bar. Sarah winced and turned to Sam, "It's going to be a long three days."

###

Dean was still feeling put out about the whole thing two days later. They only had about 6 hours to go and expected to be pulling into town around 8am. Sarah was stretched out in the back snoring softly while he and Sam were doing their best to ignore each other. Dean knew he was being unreasonable but whenever it came to Sam's freaky-ass powers he always managed to say the wrong thing.

He looked at Sarah's sleeping face in the rear-view mirror and acknowledged that he wasn't doing much better on that front either. It had been four days since the 'incident' and they still hadn't really cleared the air between them. Not for Sarah's lack of trying, but Dean couldn't help it, he'd grown to depend on having her around and didn't know how he'd deal without her when he screwed this up. In his mind it wasn't even a matter of 'if', past experience told him that it was only a matter of time.

"So, you decided to fix it yet?" Sam asked. Dean's eyes flicked over to Sam and he saw he'd been caught mooning.

"Fix what?" Dean asked not wanting to go there with Sam, ever.

"Dude, cut the crap, I know you're in love with her."

Dean swerved in appalled surprise and Sarah rolled off the back seat. "Ow! Bloody hell Dean, watch it!" Sarah grumbled as she repositioned herself, rubbing her head.

"Sorry," Dean said quickly, "Squirrel."

Both the boys waited in silence until Sarah's soft snores started up again. "I am not in love with her!" Dean insisted in a harsh whisper.

Sam just smirked, "Please, I've never seen you act like this. You lend her your jacket, you remember what food she likes, you death glare any guy who comes within 10 feet of her. Hell, last week you even let her play her own music."

"I thought she was getting sick of listening to the same thing."

"Dude it was the Dixi Chicks, I think it's obvious you're a lost cause."

"It doesn't matter, because us hooking up is a bad idea."

"Why?" Sam asked honestly confused. "You don't think twice before taking the skankiest girl in the bar back to your room, why hesitate when you've actually got feelings for her?"

"That's the point don't you think? When's the last time things went our way, ever?" Dean said angrily, "Or have you forgotten how well your love story went?"

Sam went quiet and stared out the window. Dean sighed instantly regretting bringing the past up. "We've just been through so much," Sam said quietly, "Maybe this is like some kind of reward. I mean the powers that be seem to have brought her here specifically for you. I think you're crazy if you don't grab hold of her, even if it can't last forever." Dean didn't answer he just looked back at Sarah as she slept.

###

12 hours later the door swung open revealing a battered and bloody Sam and Dean. "What happened?" Sarah asked in alarm as she dug through her bag for the first aid kit.

"A big, bad demon handed us our asses," Dean said as he sunk down onto the bed. "I can't believe you lost Ruby's knife," he added to Sam.

"I was saving your ass," Sam said tiredly.

Sarah scoured Dean with her eyes but couldn't see any obvious injuries apart from his bruised face. Sam was another story; he had blood pissing down his arm from a deep cut on his shoulder. "That's going to need stitches," she said needlessly as she steered him to the other bed, before rushing to the bathroom to grab an armful of towels.

"You do stitches?" Sam asked in surprise.

"I'll have you know I sew a mean blanket stitch," she said trying to keep her tone light, "I've got the girl guide badge to prove it." She threaded the needle and blotted the wound as best as she could, willing her hands to stop shaking.

"It's ok," Sam said gently, "I can do it."

She looked into his soft brown eyes and took a deep breath. "No," she said firmly, "You're going to be too busy telling me what happened. I take it you found the girl?"

"You could say that," Sam said wryly, wincing as Sarah started the first stitch.

"Did you find out what made her so special?"

"Yeah, turns out she can pick up what the angels are saying, kind of like a CB radio."

"Hmm, bet that sucks. So do the demons have her now?" Sarah asked, wanting to keep him talking.

"No," he grunted, "Ruby got her out in time. Now we've just got to lay low until she contacts us."

"You sure about Ruby?" Dean asked from the bathroom. Sarah'd been so focused on Sam she hadn't even noticed him get up. She heard the sound of running water as he cleaned up his face. "I think it's just as likely she brought us in to find radio girl and then sent the demon to kill us."

"She's keeping her safe," Sam insisted as Sarah finished off the last of the stitches. She winced as Sam poured straight whiskey over the top of it.

"Ok," she said gamely, "Next patient."

"Dislocated shoulder," Dean said shortly, "Don't worry Sammy's got this one." She handed him an icepack once Sam had popped the shoulder back in place.

Dean paced the room and took a swig from the whiskey bottle, obviously still hung up on Ruby's involvement. "Look man I'm not trying to pick a fight, I just gotta know, why do you trust her so much?"

Sam sighed, settled back onto the bed and told them everything that had happened while Dean had been in hell. It looked like Ruby had gone good after all and had spent the time alternating between saving, training and shagging Sam. Sarah wondered if it were possible that she really was an ally and it seemed like Dean might be on his way to becoming convinced too.

There was a knock at the door, "Housekeeping."

"Not right now," Dean called back without moving.

"I've got fresh towels," the woman called back enticingly. Dean shrugged and opened the door, letting in a middle aged black woman. The woman, who did not have towels, hustled to the window drawing the curtains closed.

"Ah Ma'm," Sam started but the woman quickly butted in explaining where she and Anna were hiding and where the surrounding demons were located.

"Ruby?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

Ruby put her hands on her now ample hips defiantly and looked at Sam, "Yes, I hijacked this cleaner for like a moment, so sue me." She rolled her eyes when they all continued to stare at her, "Don't just stand their idiots, get moving!" With that she left the woman who then flopped down onto the floor unconscious.

Dean checked her pulse to make sure she was fine before helping Sam and Sarah to grab whatever gear they could use. They moved to the bathroom and Sam went through the window first. As Sarah went to take her turn Dean grabbed her arm, "Things are kind of crazy at the moment, but when this latest thing is over we are going to talk."

"Ok," Sarah said uncertainly as Dean looked down at her. He lent down and gave her a hard, quick kiss before moving back again.

Sarah blinked up at him, "Ok," she said again dazed. Dean smirked down at her looking pleased with himself before boosting her up through the window.


	20. Wonderful Remark

The three of them trooped silently through the darkness, cutting through a park before arriving at an old wooden house. Checking through the window to make sure they had the right place they tapped softly at the door. Ruby answered it immediately, "Glad you could make it," she said before stepping back and letting them through.

Sam approached Anna, who appeared nervous but unhurt, perched on a chair in the lounge room. "You ok?" He asked placing a concerned hand on her shoulder.

She gave him a sweet smile and nodded, "I'm fine, Ruby's not like other demons. She saved me."

"Yeah, I hear she does that," Dean said casting an assessing glance at Ruby. She blinked and crossed her arms at his scrutiny. "I guess I…" Dean paused as he searched for the right words, "You know."

"What?" Ruby asked obviously unclear with what Dean was getting at.

Dean took a breath and tried again, "I guess I owe you for Sam and I just wanted to…you know." Sarah choked back a laugh; this seemed to be Dean's weak attempt at an apology. She felt a warm glow, so proud that Dean was putting his own misgivings on hold and trusting in Sam's judgment.

Ruby's eyebrows rose as she figured out what was happening, "Don't strain yourself."

"Is the moment over?" Dean asked in relief, "Good, that was awkward."

Sarah shared an amused look with Sam before turning to Anna. "Hello," she said moving towards the pretty redhead and holding out her hand, "I'm Sarah."

"Oh of course," Anna said, "I hear them talking about you all the time." She lowered her voice as if imparting a secret, "They don't seem to like you much either."

Sarah just smiled, "You know I've been getting that vibe too." She thought for a second before rooting around in her bag, "Hey, are you hungry? When's the last time you ate anything."

"Oh it's been ages," Anna said eagerly. She took the left over burger out of Sarah's hands and eagerly bit into it.

"Sorry it's not warm," Sarah apologised. Anna shook her head to show she was fine with it as she happily munched.

"What are you doing with a burger?" Dean whispered behind her and Sarah grinned.

"I got you and Sam some dinner, in case you were hungry when you got back."

"You are awesome," he said and then peered at her bag. Sarah rolled her eyes and then passed him another burger.

She looked over at Sam who shook his head with a smile, "I'm good."

Anna slowed down halfway through the burger and looked tentatively up at Sam, "Do you think it's safe now to call my parents? They must be really freaking out."

Sam froze and turned to Dean who had the same awkward, troubled expression on his face. Sarah realised instantly that Anna's parents were most likely dead. She watched Anna tense and knew that she'd realised it too, but didn't want to believe it.

Sarah watched Sam approach Anna and sit next to her, "Anna, I'm so sorry." Sarah's eyes teared up as Anna broke down, weeping openly with her face in her hands. Sam patted her back, his expression clearly saying that he wished he could do something better for her.

"Why is this happening to me?" She wailed and then sat back up ramrod stiff. "They're coming," she whispered petrified.

The lights flickered around them and Dean grabbed Sarah's hand. "Backroom," he ordered and herded them along. Sarah watched Sam put his arm around Anna as he guided her behind them. The boys pushed her and Anna into the room, locking it firmly behind them. Sarah looked at the terrified girl and tried to smile over her own wildly beating heart, "Don't worry, they do this kind of thing all the time." She tried not to think about the fact that their best weapon was MIA and moved herself and Anna into the corner of the room, behind some dusty furniture. She strained her ears as hard as she could but couldn't make out what was happening in the next room.

Anna suddenly leapt up and grabbed a piece of wood from the floor, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know," she said and before Sarah could stop her she sliced her arm open. Dipping her fingers in her own blood she ran to a dresser and started frantically smearing symbols onto the mirror. Finally she stopped and slammed her hand onto the markings. There was a blinding flash and then Anna braced herself on the dresser.

A moment later Dean burst through the door and Anna turned to him, "Are they gone?" Dean just looked at her in disbelief, quickly binding her wound with a handkerchief.

"Care to tell me how you did that?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know," She said helplessly, "It just popped into my head."

###

They'd ended up turning tail and running to Bobby's. He had a cast iron panic room that with Ruby's help they'd been able to ward against both angels and demons. They each now had their own hex bag aimed at keeping them undetected. Sarah only wondered how long this could last. Now that both demons and angels were gunning for them she really didn't like their odds. She, Anna and Dean were currently in the panic room and she couldn't help but give him a sweet smile. He must be even more worried than her about how he was going to protect everyone, but he was showing them nothing but confidence.

He left with Sam to figure out what they should do next, leaving her and Anna to make small talk. As her eyes trailed after him she felt terrible for spending so much time thinking about their upcoming 'conversation' rather than the poor girl who'd just had her life ripped apart.

"You love him don't you," she said

Sarah gave her a sheepish smile, "Is it that obvious? Please don't tell him, it would probably just freak him out."

"I don't think so," Anna said, "He's always looking at you when he doesn't think anyone's looking. I think it's sweet." Her lips twisted sadly and Sarah sat beside her.

"Do you have a boyfriend out there worrying about you?"

She shook her head, "No I was always too busy studying for boys." She paused for a second, "What about Sam? Is he with Ruby?"

Sarah frowned as she thought about it, "I don't think so. They have a pretty complicated relationship but I don't think they're together." Anna let out what sounded like a relieved breath and Sarah grinned knowingly at her.

Anna blushed and covered her face, "I'm a horrible person, I can't believe I'm checking someone out at a time like this."

"Don't worry about it," Sarah laughed, "They're a striking pair."

"What happens next?" Anna asked.

Sarah smiled at her, "Sam and Dean will save the day," she said confidently.

Anna gave her a wry smile, "You know after everything I've heard about them, I actually believe you." She fidgeted in her chair, "Do you think we can go see what they've decided?" Sarah nodded and the two of them headed out of the room and up the stairs. They found Sam, Dean and Ruby huddled over some papers. Sarah went to call out their presence but before she could Sam started talking, "So apart from the psych episode as a kid there's nothing else abnormal about her. I wonder what she's hiding." Sarah winced at the look on Anna's face.

"Why don't you ask me that to my face?" She demanded angrily and the three of them turned their way guiltily.

Sam wasn't about to be put off though, "The angels said you'd done something wrong. Any idea what they were talking about?"

"I don't know! My entire life's been levelled over this, I'd give anything to know."

Sam gave her an intense look, "Then I guess we'll have to find out."

###

Sarah sighed as she lent her head against the cool glass of the window _when had everything gotten so crazy? _She was sandwiched next to Anna the angel and Ruby the demon as the five of them drove out Kentucky in order to find Anna's Grace and turn her into a real angel again. They'd called in the psychic Pamela who'd poked around Anna's repressed memories and found out that she'd used to be Castiel and Uriel's boss. Apparently she'd gotten sick of being an emotionless angel and then ripped out her angel mojo and fallen to Earth, being born again as a human. Sarah couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she really didn't seem to want to become an angel again. It sucked that everyone couldn't just leave her alone.

Dean chuckled in the driver's seat. "What?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Dean grinned, "Just, an angel and a demon in the backseat. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, or a letter to penthouse." Sarah heard Ruby huff indignantly as Sam reminded him that this was reality, not a porno.

They arrived at their destination a short while later and in the morning sunlight Sarah thought the holy oak tree looked magnificent. They all approached it with Anna in the lead. Sarah didn't know what was going to happen but she was sure it would be impressive. She watched Anna lay her hand on the tree reverently and waited for some kind of blinding flash, but there was nothing.

"What happens now?" She asked.

Anna looked back at her disappointed, "Nothing, it's gone."

They spent the trip back to Bobby's mostly in silence. Retrieving Anna's Grace had been their best bet at keeping her and themselves safe, but with it gone there didn't seem to be many options. When they arrived the five of them spread out as they tried to think of what they should do now. Sarah watched as Sam trailed Anna around the back, probably to keep an eye on her and offer her some comfort. Under other circumstances Sarah would have been pleased as, although Sam hadn't shown any overt interest she thought the potential was there. Ruby wandered inside leaving her and Dean on the front porch. Bobby was still off somewhere else working a case and Sarah couldn't help but miss having his experience. He always seemed to know what to do.

Dean leaned against the railing next to her, "You ok?"

She gave him a reassuring smile, "Yeah, just worried. I feel like we've been kind of under the radar until now, I'd forgotten how scary both sides were."

He gave her a gentle smirk aimed at making her feel better and put an arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

"I know you will," she said leaning her head against his shoulder, "I promise to keep you safe too." Dean chuckled lightly and neither of them said anything else just enjoying the quiet moment. "We never did have that talk," Sarah said suddenly and she felt him look down at her. "I know things are hard," She continued, refusing to look up at him in case she lost her nerve, "And they're probably only going to get harder. But I like you Dean. I really like you and I want to stay by your side for as long as I'm here. I don't want to waste any of the time we have together." She paused to take a deep breath and at the lack of response hurried to add, "Now if you don't feel the same it's fine but I still want to help you and Sam as much as I can and…"

Dean cut off anything else she had to say with a bone melting kiss. He cupped her face as if savouring her lips on his and finally trailed them down to her shoulders, pulling back to take a breath.

The look in his eyes took whatever breath Sarah had left. "I don't know what's going to happen next. I don't know what they have planned for me, but I do know that as long as I'm still breathing I won't let them take you away from me." He kissed her again and the two of them came together, releasing all of the pent up desire that had been simmering between them for weeks. Sarah gasped as Dean's hand closed over one of her breasts and she surged up towards him in response to the familiar tension low in her belly. He pulled her even closer so she could feel ever hard inch of him and one hard ridge in particular made her gasp again and then pull back slightly.

She looked up into his heavy lidded gaze and blushed, "Um…I really don't want to ruin the moment but I have to tell you. I've…ah I've never done this before."

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Author's Note: Huzzah! We're finally here. Prepare yourself for some lemons next chapter! I hope I'm not rushing things with Anna but I want to take her in a slightly different Sam flavoured direction. I always liked Anna and thought her character had more potential. If you haven't noticed I tend to like the characters who're actually nice and don't spend all their screen time cutting everyone around them to ribbons or backstabbing them.


	21. You Shook Me All Night Long

Author's note: Ok so here goes. As I said before this is my first real attempt at writing and this is definitely my first stab at a raunchy scene, although I have read **plenty** of them. I hope it's ok and not too cringe-worthy.

This chapter takes off directly after the last one.

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Sarah blushed harder at Dean's slightly incredulous look, "It's not like I was saving it or hoarding it or anything," she said defensively, "I've had boyfriends before, it just never seemed…right."

"And it feels right now?"

She nodded, not quite meeting his eyes, "It's felt right for a while now."

Dean grinned down at her before picking her up and tucking her legs around his hips, "Then we've got nothing to worry about."

He walked back into the house and up the stairs. There was no sign of Ruby which Sarah was eternally grateful for. However in all honesty she doubted she would have noticed as her mouth was once more locked onto Dean's. Her hands roved over his hard shoulders as she tried to take in every touch and sensation. Even though the moment she'd been waiting for had arrived she was still harbouring the fear that it wouldn't last and she didn't want to forget anything.

He entered her room and Sarah smiled at the thought that he'd brought her here so she'd feel less tense than in his room. He placed her on the bed and then quickly pulled off his shirt, leaving his lean frame bare to her hungry gaze. She froze suddenly unsure what she should do next, but Dean didn't miss a beat as he leaned forward and began to unbutton her shirt. She blushed again when she found herself in her bra and Sarah thanked whatever intuition had told her to put on the lacy pink one. Dean's hungry, appreciative look gave her the confidence to reach up behind her and undo the clasp, leaving herself bare in front of him.

As he looked down at her he gave a funny kind of moan that made Sarah giggle and then clamp her hands over her mouth in embarrassment. Dean didn't seem to notice as he hurriedly shucked his shoes and pants. Sarah's eyes widened as she realised he wasn't wearing anything under his jeans. _Oh my _Sarah thought as her heartbeat slowed and then tripled in speed. She realised she was overdressed and quickly fumbled with the clasp of her jeans.

She stilled as Dean put his hands over hers, "Are you sure you're ready for this." He gave her a self-conscious, slightly pained grin, "I'm pretty sure I'm only going to be able to ask you once."

Sarah replied by moving her head upwards and grazing his lips with hers as she tilted her hips, sliding her jeans down her legs. Her hands went to the waistband of her panties and he stopped her with a unrepentant grin, "We got plenty of time for that." And with that he dipped his head and placed long hot kisses against her stomach as his hands skimmed up her sides and cupped both breasts. Sarah gasped as the sensations sent her into overdrive and she writhed on the bed.

She couldn't keep her hands still and they traced frantic patterns along his firm back. When she thought she couldn't take any more she grasped his hips and gave him a suggestive tug. Dean just chuckled and flipped them over. Sarah gave a startled squeak to find herself perched on top of over six feet of hard, hot man. His even harder length was pinned between her ass and his chest, its heat almost burning her through her panties. She gave an experimental wiggle that did all kinds of delicious things to her insides and Dean gave a low groan, dragging his hands through her hair and pulling her down for another long kiss.

She soon found herself on her back again, as Dean pulled her panties off and tossed them to the side. He placed his hands on her and she couldn't help but flinch even though Dean found her more than ready for him. As he played with her she felt something coiling inside her, growing tighter and tighter until it finally gave way and Sarah's eyes rolled into the back of her head in bliss. Before she came back down to Earth she felt Dean pressing at her opening and with a reassuring look he surged forward. Sarah tensed at the burning, tight sensation and willed herself to relax as Dean started to slowly move back and forth.

It didn't take long to adjust to the new feeling of fullness, however she still couldn't say that it felt exactly wonderful. As Dean felt her loosen up he picked up the pace, his breath now coming in short bursts. He moved a hand down between them and Sarah felt that delicious warmth starting again in her belly. She was soon clinging to his shoulders murmuring incoherent words of encouragement as they both climaxed together. They clung together for a moment afterwards, Dean's weight heavy but in a good way. He soon rolled away and Sarah gripped the bedclothes to her chest suddenly uncertain. She gave him a relieved and grateful smile when he quickly returned with a wet washcloth so she could clean up and despite what they'd just done Sarah still felt slightly mortified to do it in front of him.

He put the washcloth on the bedside table and slid into bed, pulling Sarah back against his chest. She snuggled back against him and kissing the hand he'd wrapped around her whispering, "Thank you."

Dean chuckled and gave her a soft squeeze, "The pleasure was all mine."

###

Dean lay awake long after he'd felt Sarah drift off to sleep, surprised at how calm his thoughts were. Not to misunderstand, he was well aware of the fact that a freak-out was imminent; he was just feeling too freaking wonderful to worry about it right now. For the first time he could remember everything felt right with the world and this was even backdating his time in hell. He knew that he was exactly where he was supposed to be and nothing short of a choir of angels was going to move him from this bed until morning.

He knew that everything had changed and tomorrow would bring some major adjustments, let alone the mess with Anna, but right now he could care less.

###

Dean woke up alone. He moved his hand to the other side of the bed but it was cold, telling him that Sarah must have left a while ago. He told himself not to feel miffed about it but couldn't help grumbling as he pulled his discarded clothing back on. This wasn't how he'd wanted to start the morning.

Sarah's bright smile and the smell of bacon went a long way to cheering him up when he stumbled into the kitchen a few minuted later. Despite the other three hoeing into breakfast Dean liked to think that Sarah had made it just for him. He ignored Sam's raised eyebrows as he took in the fact that Dean was wearing the same clothing as yesterday and slid into his seat, shooting Sarah a grateful smile as she passed him a plate loaded with bacon, eggs and toast. "Good morning," he said around his first mouthful.

"Morning," she replied blushing as she returned to the stove. The conversation flowed around him as the others decided what their next move should be, but Dean may as well have been alone with Sarah as he checked out her ass, remembering how sweet it looked without so many layers. His eyes refocused as he processed what Sam had just said, "Whoa, whoa, you want to do what?"

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's inattention and repeated himself, "There's no way we can take either side. Our best bet is to get them together so they can thin out their numbers a little. It ought to buy us some time to find the Grace anyway."

Dean opened his mouth to tell him what he thought of his 'plan' when Anna beat him to it, "He's right, we're running out of time. The angels started talking again last night. They said that we had until midnight to turn me over to them or they send Dean back to hell."

Sam turned to Anna, "Do you know of any weapons that we can use against angels?"

"You mean to kill them?" She asked appalled. Sam just shrugged, but Anna quickly shook her head, "There's nothing that we could get to in time."

"Then I say we go with Sam's plan," Sarah said quietly behind them, "I mean we can't give them Anna and they're not taking Dean. Sam's plan seems the best idea we've got." Nobody seemed to have any other ideas so they quickly made plans and separated to get ready.

Dean wandered over to Sarah who'd started collecting the dishes. "Hell of a morning after," he said awkwardly and Sarah squeezed his hand not saying anything. "Look while this is all going down I need you to be in the panic room," he saw her open her mouth to protest but quickly surged on, "I need you down there. You're a distraction I can't afford." She looked up at him clearly unhappy but nodded before turning back to the dishes. He caught her arm, "You don't have to do those."

"I know," her lips twisted into a self-depreciating smile, "But it will keep me busy till I have to go run and hide." Dean didn't know what else to say so he just kissed her forehead and left to get ready.

###

Five hours later and they were ready, or at least as ready as they could be. Dean had come to escort her down to the panic room, but before she went she turned and gave Anna a quick hug, "I really hope this all works out."

"Me too," she said with a smile and waved her down.

Before telling her to lock the door Dean thrust some trashy magazines at her, "You'll have to tell me if Brad and Angelina are really through this time."

Sarah's eyes misted up and she felt like the worst brat for how she'd acted before. She threw her arms around Dean holding him tightly. "You better be careful," she whispered fiercely, "And no matter what happens I will find you again." He winked at her and closed the door, waiting until he heard her lock it from the other side.

"Now you've got plenty of food in there. Don't come out unless it's either me or Bobby on the other side."

She nodded and then made a face realising that he couldn't see her anymore. "I promise," she said willing her voice not to break. She heard him leave and moved to the table, collapsing on the nearby chair. She knew that this was only one of many times he'd have to leave her behind but it still sucked. She fisted her hands wishing that both the angels and demons would rip each other apart before they knew what was going on.

It was the longest wait of her life. It was probably only three hours but it felt like a lifetime before she heard Dean's voice calling out to her. She raced to the door as he pulled the window open and Sarah nearly sobbed in relief as she threw the door open. "What happened? Is Anna...?"

"She's gone," he said, "But in a good way. That bastard Uriel had her Grace and she was able to get it back. Plus we got the knife back."

Sarah just hugged him, still a little overwhelmed. "Poor Anna, I wonder if we'll see her again."

"I'm sure she'll turn up," he said reassuringly. As he patted her back his stomach let out an impressive growl and Sarah laughed, feeling normal for the first time since this morning.

"Come on you," she said grabbing his hand, "I've got lasagne for my conquering heroes."

"Have I ever told you you're awesome?" He said grinning down at her before giving her a hard kiss. Something about what had happened had stirred Dean up, she could feel it in the almost desperate way he'd kissed her, but all of that could wait. First she had to get him fed and settled and tonight they could worry about everything else.


	22. Loose Ends

Author's Note: Phew! Sorry it's been so long guys. It was the end of term and there were so many tests and assignments to mark. But it's ok now, because it's finally the school holidays! Hopefully I should be able to make regular updates again, between writting up all those evil reports.

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Sarah had never felt so nervous, even during the lead up to her and Dean's 'first night'. She could feel herself winding tighter and tighter as the night wore on. Despite being injured Ruby had insisted on making tracks, telling the three of them that they'd meet up some other time once everything had cooled down. Over diner Sam and Dean had filled her in on the rest of what had happened, although she was still pretty sure they'd left some of it out, judging by the tension she still sensed in Dean. But now diner was over and Sarah had no idea what would happen next.

Even though they hadn't made it official she and Dean were together now. If she went up to her room would he join her? Or should she go to his room? Then again maybe that was too intrusive and Dean wanted some space. It wasn't like they were married or anything and he hadn't actually told her how he really felt…

Sarah was pulled from her half-panicked musings by Dean's hand on her arm. "You look tired," he said shortly and pulled her to her feet. She shot an embarrassed look at Sam who was pointedly ignoring them and followed him out of the room. Inwardly Sarah was doing a gleeful happy-dance the whole way up the stairs, relieved that Dean had taken charge and that this was the direction he was taking them in. She was halted mid-mental-jig when Dean abruptly pushed her up against his door and gave her a hard kiss. It had that same desperate taste as before, but Sarah was still feeling too relived to question it overmuch.

He barely paused to open his bedroom door and before Sarah realised it he was pushing her back onto his bed. They hurriedly shed their clothes and came together, not talking beyond breathy sighs and moans. Sarah could feel the need inside him and it was echoed in her. She was surprised that she wasn't nervous the second time around and only felt excited as he eagerly thrust in her, bringing them both closer to relief. It was too much and Sarah felt her walls tremble around him as she came, spurring him on to finish too.

He rolled to the side tucking her into his side. "Sorry about that," he said his voice all husky and sexy.

Without thinking Sarah snorted and said, "I'm not." She immediately blushed and was thankful for the pale light coming through the window that hid her embarrassment from Dean. He gave a soft chuckle that rumbled up through his chest and into her back. "You wanna talk about it?" Sarah asked finally.

He sighed and rolled into a sitting position. "There's nothing to talk about. I'm just letting that douche bag Alistair get to me." Sarah propped herself up on her elbows waiting for him to continue. "He said I had… promise. That he was disappointed he couldn't nurture my full potential."

Sarah's eyes narrowed, "Alistair's a cock," she grumbled.

Dean gave her a twisted grin, "Cock or not he's right. When you pulled me out I was done. I couldn't take it anymore and I was willing to do anything he wanted."

Sarah looked up at his distant face as she felt him drift further away. She sighed loudly, "Could'a should'a would'a." Dean gave her a funny look which she returned with a haughty smile, "Could'a should'a would'a. Alistair can make as many snarky comments as he likes but the truth is he failed. He didn't break you, not really, because an intrepid and spunky heroin snatched you from the bowels of hell just in time. So really," she said pushing him back down and then swinging herself on top of him, "You're moping for no reason."

He returned her naughty grin with one of his own, "I am wasting time aren't I." He slid his hands along her thighs before clasping her ass playfully, repositioning her in a much sweeter spot and then moving his hips suggestively, "Especially when there are so many more fun things to be doing."

###

The next day Dean was singing softly under his breath as he loaded their gear into the Impala. Bobby still wasn't back, although he did make contact last night to let them know he was done and on his way back. They weren't about to sit around and wait though. Instead they were heading across state after a possible haunting.

He'd left Sarah in the kitchen an hour ago, she insisted on leaving something decent behind for Bobby. She didn't trust the grizzled, old hunter to find himself something decent to eat without her supervision. Dean stretched his hands above his head; it was nice having someone to look after them. Yep, the world was looking pretty bright and shiny this morning. And Dean was done waiting for the other shoe to fall, he was determined to enjoy his good fortune for as long as it lasted.

"So you and Sarah," Sam said behind him.

"Finally decided to bite the bullet and make all her dreams com,e true."

"So you're a proper couple then? This isn't something I'm going to have to whale on you for?" Sam said in a light tone that was belied by his serious look.

"Stand down surrogate big brother, you've got nothing to worry about."

They stood in companiable silence for a while before Sam gave a contented sigh,"Feels good to be on a regular hunt again."

"You're telling me. If I ever see an angel again it'll be too soon." Sam made an affirming noise, but Dean thought it was a little on the wistful side. He smirked to himself as he realised that Sam may have gotten a bit too attached to Anna.

"What are you smirking about?" Sarah asked as she came out the door with a small esky.

"Sam wants to get touched by an angel," Dean said as Sam spluttered in embarrassed protest.

"Don't listen to him," Sarah said giving his arm a pat on the way fast, "Anna was a nice girl. I'm sure we'll see her again soon."

"Who says I'm even interested?"

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Sarah insisted as she fended off Dean, "She thought you were cute too."

"She did?" He asked without thinking, but luckily both Sarah and Dean were busy playing tug-of-war with the esky.

"Don't even think about it," Sarah said yanking it out of his hands, "These are snacks for the road."

"Come on," he whined, "I can smell the chicken wings from here. Just one?"

"Not a chance," she said as she heartlessly swatted his hand and then clambered into the back.

Dean shook his smarting fingers and turned back to a laughing Sam. "Looks like now you're getting some you won't be getting any," Sam chuckled.

"Ha ha," Dean muttered and pushed Sam towards the passenger side, "You're a real scream."

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Author's note: Sorry this chapter isn't that long, it's just tying up the last of the loose ends so we can start the boys' next case. What will the future have in store for Dean and Sarah? Will Anna turn up any time soon? Only time will tell.


	23. Bridge Over Troubled Water

The trip across state to Mitchell was great. Sarah couldn't remember the last time all three of them had been so mellow; they spent the five hours swapping stories and teasing each other. Now that it was well into November the weather was pretty close to freezing compared to what Sarah was used to. Back home it never got under 10 degrees, it was already less than that and they hadn't even hit winter yet. As they got closer to their destination they passed plenty of corn fields that had either been harvested or were in the middle of being harvested. It looked like South Dakota was slowly turning into a winter wonderland. Even though she missed her family and had never spent a Christmas away from them Sarah was really looking forward to spending the holiday here. She'd never had a white one before. She knew the boys were generally not that into the holiday, but she was already making plans.

As they entered the city Sarah realised that Mitchell was much bigger than she'd thought it would be. "What are we hunting again?" She asked as she filed the interesting looking shops away for later reference.

Dean gave her a dry look, "**We're **not hunting anything. Sam and I are tracking down an each uisge, which means you are not to go near any lakes, rivers or bodies of water bigger than the palm of your hand." As they passed the second decent-sized river Sarah got the sneaky suspicion she wouldn't be leaving the motel room this trip.

Sarah huffed a bit to let Dean know she was displeased so hopefully he would take pity on her at some point and take her somewhere. Her eyes lit up as they passed the brightly lit 'Corn Palace'. _Definitely on the way back _she thought to herself. There was no way she was leaving Mitchell without a picture of the three of them outside the Corn Palace. Her camera was a new acquisition; she'd bought it when she was shopping for some more 'heavy duty' winter clothes. Bad things happened so regularly that she thought that some tangible, 'good' memories might be nice.

Sarah filed away her mental itinerary and turned to Sam who was googling on his I phone, "So what's an each uisge anyway? I take it they drown you."

"They're originally from Scotland and are similar to a kelpie, but much more dangerous. They can appear as a shaggy pony, a beautiful horse or an attractive man. They lure you to the water's edge and then devour you, leaving only your liver behind."

Sarah made a face, "What a gross first date. So how do you kill it?"

"I'm still working on it. I've found a legend where they use iron hooks and then stake it out in the sun, but that's about it."

Dean smirked at both of them, "And here I was hoping we could lasso him with a silver rope Butch Cassidy style." Sarah couldn't help but grin back at him; his cowboy fetish was adorable.

###

The Mitchell Motor Inn was a nice place, not nearly as skeeby as some of the other places they'd been. Although the last month or so Sarah had noticed that the calibre of their hotel rooms had gone up a notch. Her suspicions had been confirmed when she'd overheard Sam teasing Dean about it.

They were ushered to their room by the very friendly attendant David. Like the hotel he was refreshingly normal and not at all creepy like some of the previous hotel managers. As he opened their door and handed them the keys he prattled on about all the town had to offer and named a few of the more popular tourist attractions _which Sarah eagerly added to her 'futer reference' file. _Accepting a tip from Sam he gave them one more jovial smile and left.

Sarah turned to settle her bag on the bed and ran into a frowning Dean, who was glaring at the door. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think he liked the way David was checking you out," Sam smirked from across the room.

"What? Don't be crazy. He was just being friendly and doing his job. Although I'll admit it's a combo we don't come across too often in this industry."

"Just remember you don't leave the room and you don't open the door for anyone who isn't us," Dean said gruffly completely ignoring her attempt to lighten the mood.

Refusing to let him ruin the nice vibe they'd had going all day she rose up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry, why would I want some handsome hayseed when I've got my own sexy Neanderthal to order me about?"

Dean's look softened and he gave a mock growl and picked up a squealing Sarah, throwing her onto the nearby bed. "Is this my cue to go?" Sam asked in a slightly uncomfortable voice.

"No no," Sarah laughed, "I think he's gotten it all out of his system now."

Dean gave her a toe-curling half smile before moving over to Sam and helping him research.

###

The next day Dean took a ginger step backwards as the doctor pulled the sheet back, revealing a moist looking liver. They were currently at the morgue to look over the three victims, or what was left of them. Going from their profiles there didn't seem to be much that linked them. They were two locals that lived at opposite ends of the city and a tourist from Washington. Two females aged 17 and 46 and a 32 year old male. The only thing they seemed to have in common was that they were all attractive, or at least they had been. It seemed their monster had a hard-on for hotties. It wasn't much to go on but they'd had less.

He gave Sam a look to indicate that they should move on. The autopsies hadn't turned up anything; based on what little blood work they could do the victims hadn't appeared to be under the influence of anything when they'd died. There hadn't been any signs of a struggle, just their clothes, ID and liver left in a pool of blood at the side of various bodies of water. It didn't look like the each uisge was even remotely interested in covering its tracks.

"What do you think?" Sam asked as they exited the building and headed towards the car.

"I'd say we're going to waste the afternoon talking to grieving relatives who don't know squat," he grumbled.

Look on the bright side," Sam said, "There was some pie left in Sarah's snack pack."

Dean gave a lusty grin as he pictured Sarah answering the door in her underwear, a steaming pie in her hands.

Sam narrowed his eyes at him before getting into the car, "Do not tell me what you're thinking."

"What?" Dean asked innocently, "Just looking forward to some cherry pie."

###

Oblivious to Dean's pie induced fantasies Sarah flicked through the local TV stations utterly bored. She jumped at a knock on the door _that was quick _she thought as she jumped up to look through the peep hole. David's genial face peered back at her. She went to open the door but paused as she recalled Dean's snarky orders. Rolling her eyes she slid the chain lock into place before cracking the door open.

"Hey David, everything alright?" She asked hoping that the boys' fraudulent credit card hadn't been cancelled.

"No no everything's great. I was just wondering if I could impose on you for a sec, you see Mr Smith next door in 206 had some of his washing blow from his balcony onto yours and was wondering if I could retrieve it."

Sarah's brow furrowed, "Why didn't he just come himself."

David gave her an uncomfortable smile, "Ahh, he was kind of embarrassed. You see it was a couple pairs of his underwear and he's in his 60s..."

David trailed off and Sarah gave him a reassuring smile as she unlocked the door and let him in, "No worries. Just grab it and tell him I never even got a look."

He nodded gratefully and hurried to the balcony to grab the runaway underwear. "Thanks again," he said as he came back. He paused thoughtfully at the doorway, "I hope you don't mind me asking but what are you doing inside on such a fine day in our great city?"

"My brothers are here mostly on business. They should be back later though and we'll go do some sightseeing."

"If you're stranded I finish my shift in a half hour. I could show you some of the local sights."

Sarah looked up touched by his sweet offer, noticing for the first time what nice green eyes he had. They were a deep emerald colour, not as nice as Dean's but still nice all the same. "That's very sweet of you but I have to wait here."

"Fair enough, but it seems a right shame for you to be stuck in here. If your brothers are still tied up with business tomorrow I'm only working a morning shift and I'd be more than happy to squire you around."

"We'll see," Sarah said appreciative and clearly tempted. Odds were that Dean would whisk them off as soon as the case was over and after leafing through the various brochures around the room there were more than a few things Sarah wanted to check out before they left.

###

Later that night Sarah lay snuggled against Dean's chest. There was no hanky panky, obviously with Sam sleeping a mere two feet away but she found Dean's firm arms wrapped around her was almost as good. They boys had turned up nothing new and would be hitting the police station and local archives tomorrow to try to find any earlier instances of possible each uisge attacks. They'd found a few notes in their father's journal but nothing particularly useful. Sarah had asked Dean again if she could have a look around the town centre and he'd begrudgingly caved with the gruff order that she be careful and go no further than that. Sarah grinned to herself as she drifted off to sleep; maybe she would get to explore Mitchell after all. It should be fine as long as she steered clear of any water...or pretty horses.


	24. The Kindness Of Strangers

Author's note: Hey everyone, I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated. It's been a combination of work, laziness and being too busy reading everyone else's awesome fiction. Thanks a lot for those of you who prodded me into getting off my ass and continuing the story. I got a bit daunted when I realised how much there is to go. Originally I figured it would run the course of season 4. I've got the end figured out and some bits in the middle, but logistically we're only halfway through. I hope I can keep it entertaining enough that you'll want to stick with it till the end.

Also thanks again to everyone who's favourited and left reviews. Every time one of you tell me what you think it totally makes my day. You're all the best for keeping with me so long.

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The next morning the three of them sat around a table at Phil's Diner finishing off their breakfast. Dean's mouth curled up into a smile as he watched Sarah chatter away to Michelle Montgomary on her cell. He'd warned her the first few times Mrs Ruguru had checked in, told her not to get too attached as it was more than likely that they'd have to put a torch to the woman's husband and baby one day. She'd just screwed up her nose at him and made some noise about optimism and the benefit of the doubt. He'd thought she looked cuter than hell and that was back in the days where he'd generally thought she was as annoying as hell. Not that she still wasn't, it was just that she'd since developed this knack of blindsiding him and making him forget how mad he was.

She finally got off the phone and Sam, ever the suck, was quick to ask how they were and if everything was alright with the baby. "They're great!" Sarah gushed, happily launching into an account that Dean happily tuned out about three seconds in. He gave a contented sigh and stretched his legs out under the table. He was surprisingly well rested considering Sam had unconsciously cock-blocked him last night. He couldn't help but smirk at himself. It was embarrassing to think he was getting mushy over a night of spooning, but looking over at Sarah's smiling face he was having a hard time summoning up the urge to care. Dean's gaze sharpened as Sarah got up abruptly.

"Ok then boys, I wish you happy hunting, but I've got a date with the local shopping centre." Dean couldn't help but make a face and she laughingly kissed it off him before turning to leave. His hand shot out to grab her wrist and she gave him an indulgent smile before parroting, "No farther than a three block radius from the motel, no talking to strangers and I'll txt you every hour." He forced himself to let her go, his eyes trailing after her as she left.

He turned back to find Sam's amused eyes on him, "You do realise she's going shoe shopping right? There's a pretty high chance she'll make it back alive." Dean just flicked one of his beans at him, wishing he could shake his sudden unease off as easily.

###

A few hours later Sarah was happily swinging several bags as she made her way back to the hotel room. She needed to get her purchases safely back and all the evidence stowed away before her baggage-handler boyfriend saw how much she'd bought. He was a hair's-breadth away from weighing her luggage before they left for a hunt as it was. She couldn't help but sigh happily. Ah the perils of limitless, repercussion free credit.

She was just putting her key card in the lock when she was nearly bowled over by a very agitated looking David.

"Gosh I'm sorry Miss Cassidy," he said bending to help her retrieve her fallen packages.

"No problem," she said giving him a reassuring smile, "Where's the fire? Or are you on another underwear saving mission?"

He looked at her blankly before breaking into a strange, kind of whooping laugh. _Good God _Sarah thought _I'm glad I don't have to listen to that every day. _He quickly sobered though, "I'm sorry, I've been distracted all morning. My little sister didn't come home last night."

"That's terrible," Sarah murmured opening her door, "Has she ever done this before?"

"No! She's only 16, it's that damn new boyfriend of hers I know it." Sarah felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise as he continued, "I've been trying her cell all morning and there's no reply, which is really not like her. I just finished work and am going to go look for her."

Sarah quickly dumped her bags in the doorway of the room and chased after him, "Do you know the boy's number?"

He shook his head distractedly as he headed for the door, "I don't even know his name. She only just met him, but she's a good girl. It was only a matter of time until she introduced him." He gave a rueful smile, "I'm sure I'm worried over nothing. It's just that lately there have been a few missing persons in town and I just…" He shrugged helplessly.

Sarah blinked, realising she'd followed him all the way out the back and they were now standing beside a shiny looking motorcycle. "Why don't you let me call my brothers, I'm sure they could help you look."

David shook his head, "I really don't have time to wait around for them." He paused for a second before adding, "Would you mind helping me?"

Looking up at his pleading face Sarah felt herself waver and sighed. She really did want to help but she'd promised Dean she'd stay out of trouble for once. She opened her mouth to refuse and then gasped as David picked her up, as if she didn't weigh more than one of her new boxes of shoes, and plonked her onto the bike. Before she could even protest she was infused with a pleasant, warm feeling. David cupped her cheek, a calculating look in his eyes and Sarah couldn't help smiling blissfully up at him. "Not up to my usual standard," David said finally, "But I reckon your hunter brothers will be mighty displeased when they find their baby sister all gobbled up." Sarah knew that she should really be freaking out about now, but she was just feeling so…_good._ Without another word David climbed on behind her and they took off down the back street.

###

Dean fumbled with the key card, his arms laden with fried goodness. Both him and Sam had returned for a much needed lunch break after turning up jack squat at the local police station. He hadn't heard from Sarah in a couple of hours but wasn't worried; her last txt had said that she was back at the motel and was planning on taking a nap. Dean grinned as he pictured her sleeping on their bed all sexy and rumpled. He quickly lost the grin though as he opened the door and promptly fell over the boxes lying in the door way.

"Dude, you ok," Sam asked obviously trying not to laugh.

"Fine," he said curtly as he retrieved their lunch. "Sarah!" He yelled down the hallway, "Why'd you booby-trap the door?" He strode into their room, but pulled up short as he looked at the neat beds Sarah had insisted on making before they'd left for breakfast. "Sarah!" He called again, heading for the bathroom already knowing that she wouldn't be there. He pulled out his phone, cursing when it went straight to her message bank. His gut clenched as her recording cheerfully promised to call him back.

"Ever freaking time!" He roared as he stormed back into the main room looking for any clues as to where she was.

"There's nothing here," Sam said quietly, "She must have dumped the bags inside and then left again."

He didn't need to add how out of character that was for the girl who insisted on putting the plastic knife and fork on the right side of the plate when setting the table for a take-away dinner. She must have been in a hurry. Dean tried to tamp down his rising fear as he banged back out of the room, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing Seignior Psychopath," Sam muttered under his breath as he followed; his own face tight with worry.

###

Sarah smiled as she stretched languidly over the bike, soaking in the meagre rays of sunlight. David had brought her to a small, secluded lake outside of town. As she watched the water gently lap at the pebbled shore she could not remember the last time she'd felt this awesome, outside of bed with Dean that was. David had left ages ago to do who knows what, but Sarah could care less. _I am never getting off this bike _she thought happily. Unfortunately, a minute or maybe an hour later a shirtless David emerged from the threes. Sarah couldn't help but admire his bronzed and sculpted chest, but like the rest of her thoughts at the moment it was a detached kind of appreciation.

He looked at her with a smug grin, "It's a nice bike isn't it?"

Sarah giggled in agreement, stroking a loving hand along the side.

"Time was," David continued, "we used to transform into horses to lure or meals here. These days people aren't as willing to jump on strange horses as they used to be, so we've had to adapt; try out new techniques." His smile became expectant and predatory, "But I need you to get off the bike now. You see I'm very hungry and I've found that if I get you good and scared first it will give you this nice, spicy flavour."

Sarah watched as his face stretched and elongated, and as his lips pulled wider apart they revealed two rows of razor sharp, yellowed teeth. She pouted unhappily at him, "Just 5 more minutes. Please just let me have five more minutes on the bike and I'll let you eat me."

David threw his head back and gave that strange whooping laugh. "You meat bags really crack me up" he said slurring the words as if his new mouth was having trouble forming them. He tangled a gnarled, three-fingered hand in her hair and threw her from the bike.

Sarah hit the ground and gasped as three hours or so of repressed terror pushed her heart up into her throat. Not taking her eyes off his freakish face she back-peddled helplessly, flinching when her hand hit the frigid water behind her.

"Any last words?" David laughed again, "I don't really care I just like saying it."

"Well," Sarah said frantically thinking of something to get her out of this and coming up with nothing, "I can honestly say that after meeting you I'm never going to make fun of Sarah Jessica Parker again."

With a wet cracking sound David's jaw opened impossibly wide and he lunged at her. Sarah screamed, throwing her arms up and closing her eyes. There was a weird pop and she felt something hot and wet spray all over her. _Oh my God _Sarah thought _he's got acid drool. I'm going to start melting. _When nothing started to burn or drop off Sarah cautiously opened one eye and then the other. David was lying at her feet, headless, with Anna a few feet behind him.


	25. Send Me An Angel

"Anna!" Sara cried out, scrambling to her feet and throwing her arms around the fallen angel. "I have never been so happy to see anyone. How did you find me?"

Anna gave her a small smile, "I've been keeping an eye on you guys."

"Oh my god," Sarah exclaimed suddenly remembering the headless corpse three feet behind her, "What are we going to do about him?"

Anna gave 'David' a considering look, "What do you want to do with it?"

"I guess I should just call the guys." Sarah froze as she saw her watch, "Oh my god it's 3 o'clock. There's no way they haven't noticed I'm missing by now." She reached into her pocket flipping open her cell. 24 missed calls. "Dean's going to kill me," she moaned.

"Don't worry," Anna laughed, "I'm sure he'll just be relieved you're ok."

The phone went off in her hand and Sarah looked down at it in horror not knowing whether to answer or not. She took a deep steadying breath. "Ok Anna, whatever happens just go with it. Dean! I'm so glad you got through."

"Where the hell are you?" Sarah flinched but couldn't help but smile as Dean's furious growl filled her ears.

"I'm with Anna. She came across the each uisge and killed it. She turned up at our room looking for you guys while I was taking my nap and zapped me out here to make an ID before I could call you. I've been trying ever since but the reception's terrible out here."

"The reception? The reception? Do you have any idea…we've been going out of our freakin' minds trying to find you!" He paused and she could hear him taking a deep breath, "Where are you?"

She looked to Anna for help and then relayed their location back to Dean. "Don't move," He ordered before hanging up.

Sarah winced as she hung up the phone. "So we're lying to them?" Anna asked.

"Definitely," Sarah said, not even pausing to consider it. "If he finds out I nearly got munched on by Mr Ed he is going to flip his lid. I'll never leave Bobby's again. She gave Anna a speculative look, "You can lie right?"

Anna burst out laughing at that, "I've missed you Sarah."

Sarah gave her another hug, "I've missed you too."

"Ok, so we're lying to the boys. You do realise they're not going to believe us."

"What are you talking about? Despite what Dean says, I'll have you know I can be a very convincing liar when I need to be."

"But unless IDing the creature involves rolling around on its corpse…" Anna trailed off and Sarah realised for the first time she was liberally splattered with her would-be murderer's blood.

She turned panicked eyes on Anna, "Dean can't see me like this. Please you've got to zap me back to the room so I can change and then zap us back before they get here."

Anna just smiled and waved her hand flashing Sarah into a new outfit; a new and completely fabulous outfit. "Are these Guess jeans?" Sarah asked looking down at her ass. "You are completely awesome," her eyes narrowed, "These aren't going to disappear at midnight or anything are they?"

"No no," Anna assured her, "They're 100% real."

"Well thanks," she went to say more but cursed as she felt the familiar shaking starting in her legs. Settling herself on a fallen tree she willed herself to stay still.

"You ok?"

"Yeah yeah," she gave a brittle laugh, "Just a little post traumatic bullshit. You think I'd be used to it by now."

Anna didn't try to say anything trite; she just sat next to her until the spell passed. Sarah could have kissed her, but she settled for quizzing her on what she'd been doing. It turned out she'd been spending most of her time avoiding angels, keeping tabs on the seal business and watching them.

Eventually the Impala pulled up and the boys quickly got out. Dean didn't say anything, just strode over looking pretty pissed off and pulled Sarah into a bone crushing hug. "I'm sorry I made you worry," she said softly.

He just grunted before growling, "Just don't do it again." As much as Sarah was enjoying her fluffy Dean moment she craned her head over his shoulder so she could see Sam and Anna's reunion.

They were both standing by the corpse and talking softly; Sarah couldn't hear a word of it though, much to her frustration. Her eyes widened as Sam stepped towards the bike. "Don't touch that!" She called out breaking free of Dean. "It's got some kind of monster mojo on it. I touched it before and it made me want to jump on and never get off." She thought for a second, "Maybe we should push it into the lake or…" She trailed off as Anna picked the motorbike up and with seemingly little effort chucked it into the lake. She turned back to their slack-jawed stares.

"What?" She asked self-consciously.

"Just glad you're on our side," Dean said with a grin.

"Well anyway," Anna said dusting off her hands, "I better get going before anyone gets a lock on me."

"Really?" Sarah asked disappointed, "It was really nice having another girl to talk to."

"Come on now," Dean chided with a smirk, "You're going to hurt Sammy's feelings." Anna gave her a hug as Sam hit Dean in the back of the head.

"Don't worry I'll be around. And if you do find yourself in trouble just call out and I'll hear you."

"Thanks for the help," Sarah said as Anna blinked away, "And be careful."

###

Three hours later and Dean was tapping impatiently on the steering wheel as Sarah and Sam finished putting their gear in the trunk. He couldn't wait to leave this place in his rear-view mirror. He'd liked Mitchell well enough this morning, but the last five hours or so had given a thorough dislike of the place.

Dean smiled slightly as Sam pushed Sarah into the front seat. Even though they hadn't been together a week yet she'd been careful not to be too affectionate and hadn't asked once to share the front with Dean. He was sure it was some sweet urge not to make Sam uncomfortable or like he was a third wheel. Dean gave Sam an appreciative look as they took off, resting his hand on Sarah's leg between gear changes. Even though he knew she hadn't been in any real danger he still didn't want her out of arms reach any time soon.

They hadn't been going 10 minutes before Sarah yelled out, "Stop the car!" Dean locked up the breaks nearly getting hit up the ass by the pick up behind him.

"What is it?" Dean said looking around for possible danger.

"I nearly forgot! Could you pull over here? I want to get a picture."

"You want a…are you out of your freaking mind!" Dean yelled as he willed his heart to slow down.

"Come on it will only take a second," she said as she dragged them both from the car and positioned them in front of a tacky looking building called the 'Corn Palace'.

As she charmed some old timer into taking the picture for her Sam leaned forward with an amused grin on his face, "This is what happens when you bring a girl along."

Whatever Dean was about to say was forestalled as Sarah ran back over to them and readjusted their positions slightly. "If Wild Bill there steals your camera you can't get another one," he murmured.

"Oh shush. Now smile and say Corn Palace!" Both he and Sam repeated the words in a monotone but Dean found his smile wasn't half as forced as he'd thought it would be. Like he'd said before she had blindsided him out of his bad mood. She jogged back to retrieve her camera, her expression showing how pleased she was with the picture on the viewfinder.

"It's a keeper" Sarah called out happily as she headed back towards them.

Sam just smirked, "This is how it starts dude. I give a month before the Impala's dash is covered in knitted doilies."

"You shut your mouth," Dean shot back a suddenly worried look on his face.

###

"So where are we going now?" Sarah asked once they were on the road again, her camera safely stowed away for later use.

"Nebraska," Dean answered, "Found a case with some old guy who was butchered in his locked house."

"So a ghost then?" She asked trying really hard not to form any mental pictures. Dean grunted an affirmation and Sarah twisted in her seat so she could pin Sam with a knowing grin. "And now the question we've all been waiting for…"

"I'm pretty sure whatever it is I haven't been waiting for it," Dean muttered but she ignored him.

"What did you talk to Anna about?"

"The best way to dispose of the body," Sam deadpanned.

"That's it?" Sarah asked utterly disappointed.

"Come on Sarah. You know Sammy's a cold fish when it comes to this kind of thing." Dean ignored Sam's spluttering in the backseat, "I mean he probably hasn't even noticed Anna as a woman."

"That's not true." He broke in, "Just because I don't immediately jump every hot girl who turns up doesn't mean…" He broke off as he looked from one smirking face to the other.

"So you think she's hot?" Sarah asked.

"You guys suck."


	26. Angry Heart

Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to Allykat2108. Thanks for pming me into getting off my lazy bum and finally finishing this chapter. Sorry it's taken so long guys and thanks again for bothering to read it in the first place. And finally a huge thank you to all the people who've made my day and reviewed. Over 100, you guys rock!

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As they drove up to the house Sarah thought it looked innocent enough. Although there was an unkemptness to it, like the man who'd lived there had stopped caring about it long before he died. As they walked up the front porch and waited for Dean to jimmy the lock, Sarah made sure to stay close to the boys. Neither of them were overly concerned about anything happening in broad daylight, but they'd still warned her to make sure she was with one of them at all times. It was just as dingy inside as it was outside, although there was nothing overtly sinister about it, and nobody really said much as they made their way through the house. Upstairs Sam tried to pick up something on the EMF reader but the nearby powerlines made the readings useless. Huffing Sam put it back in his pocket and opened the wardrobe door.

"Ew that's not creepy at all," Sarah said looking at the filthy, hairless doll head lying at the bottom of the empty wardrobe. It looked like the remains of one of the toys Sid had mangled in Toy Story.

"Maybe somebody left it," Sam said.

Dean snorted, "Who? Unless Bill Gibson liked to play with doll heads." We all snickered but then quickly moved to the window as we heard a car pull up; It was a car and a removal truck. "I thought you said this house was for sale."

Sam raised his eyebrows, "I guess they sold it."

Dean sighed and headed for the door, "Ok you," he said gesturing to Sarah, "Go out the back and wait by the car. We'll take care of the Brady Bunch."

Sarah rolled her eyes to Sam at Dean's highhandedness but obediently headed for the back door. She did not want to be left in the house with whatever owned the doll. She leaned up against the Impala wondering if her and Dean would get any alone time any time soon. He'd been pretty touchy feely on the drive up to the farm house while Sam had been napping in the back and she was eager to try out some of the stuff he'd been whispering to her. Her cheeks heated up just thinking about it. She smiled thinking about what Jade would say if she knew she'd been getting down and dirty with the Dean Winchester. She hadn't really thought about her family or Jade in a while. She still missed them like crazy but it was starting to feel as if she'd moved away rather than disappeared.

She was pulled out of her musing when she saw a flutter of movement upstairs. Looking at one of the windows on the top floor she froze as she saw a pale, ragged looking girl staring straight back at her. As she stood there gawking there was a rustle in the bushes at the side of the house. She gave a startled, _Eeep_, and dove into the car locking all of the doors. Looking around she didn't see anything else move and when she looked back at the window the girl was gone.

Still craning her neck up at the house she gave a strangled scream as someone tapped on the window. "You ok?" Sam asked giving her a funny look.

"I think I just saw the ghost," She said gesturing to the window.

Sam looked from the window back to her, "So you hid in the car and locked the doors?" He asked his eyebrows going higher and a smile twitching on his lips.

"Oh shush up," Sarah said sheepishly as she got out of the car, "I thought I heard something in the bushes and the car seemed like a safer option." She looked around him but didn't see Dean anywhere. "Did you get rid of the family ok?"

Sam sighed, "We've got a day to sort this out."

"24 hours? You guys should have this wrapped up by then, no worries." Sam laughed but his eyes had that tired crinkled look to them. "You ok?"

He ruffled her hair playfully, "Never better." She gave him a gentle shove back, but couldn't help but follow him with her eyes as they made their way back to Dean.

###

Sarah stretched out in the back seat, listening to her IPod and trying to be inconspicuous while Sam and Dean interviewed Bill's cleaning lady. She was using the notepad in front of her to finalise her Christmas plans. She'd been hinting at the boys in a less than subtle way that she'd appreciate it if they kept the Christmas weekend free, but she knew that if something did come up that they would go and kick its ass. It was what they did and she loved them for it; she was just crossing her fingers that they didn't come across any homicidal elves that make their toys out of the bones of naughty children.

She was still lost in a disturbing mental dramatisation staring Dobby and voiced by Alvin the chipmunk when she heard the boys come crunching back up the drive. "Well what'd she say?" she asked as she stowed her notebook away, careful not to pop her head up in case said cleaning lady was still watching them.

"Looks like Bill had a wife who died in child birth and a daughter who hung herself in the house. But both were cremated so I doubt they're the ghost you saw," Sam said as he buckled himself in.

"Hmmm so what now?"

"Now we head back and give the place a thorough onceover," Dean said all business as he put the Impala in reverse. He flicked his eyes up to the rear-view mirror and sent her a smirk, "Did I mention how hot you look spread out back there?"

Sam sighed, "Dude I'm right here. Could you at least wait for me to pretend to be asleep?"

###

As they pulled back up to the farmstead Dean took in the moving van and extra car, _Crap_. It looked like the Brady Bunch had moved in after all. He turned to Sam, "What do we do now?"

Sam shrugged, "We could tell them the truth."

"You think that would work?" Sarah asked.

"No," Sam deadpanned, "Definitely not." They were saved from making any other plans by a scream from inside. Barely pausing to order Sarah to stay in the car Dean leapt out and flew up the porch steps, Sam right behind him. They banged on the door and when the uncle, or whatever he was opened it, they barged past him with the hurried explanation that they'd heard screams.

They entered the living room and as Dean looked it over he was relieved to see that all of them seemed to be present. A pissed off looking dad stepped in front of his family, You two! Did one of you touch my daughter?"

"What? No," he said; a part of him amused that this one of the few times he didn't have to think about it first.

The father demanded to know what was going on and as Sam started to explain he let their panicked voices drift over him as he cased the room again. Something felt off. He wasn't feeling the same energy he usually did during a haunting. He turned back to the dad, "You're all in danger. You have to get out of the house now." Just as he said it the lights flicked off and the house lost power. "Nobody move!" He growled. Unfortunately a yelp outside indicated that Casper had chosen that moment to get touchy-feely with the family dog. He shared a frustrated look with Sam as they charged off after them.

They reached the front door just in time to see Sarah barreling up the steps. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm Sarah, pleased to meet you." Dean felt his lips twitch at her inappropriate level of friendliness.

She looked around the slightly confounded dad to Dean, "The ghost just grabbed the dog and dragged it towards the truck."

He nodded and gave her hand what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze as he pushed her towards the mother and kids, "Stay with them while we check it out." He paused and then turned back, "You armed?"

She gave him a nervous smile and patted her pocket, "Of course." She looked so determined it was adorable. He wondered if he could get away with a quick kiss but settled for a wink, "That's my girl."

###

The woman made as if to follow and Sarah stood in the way. "We need to stay put. The guys will check it out and then we'll figure out what to do next."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sarah. The tall one's Sam and the gruff one's Dean. We're here to help I promise."

She gave her a long look before sighing in confused defeat. "I'm Susan. This is Kate and Danny." Both kids offered subdued hellos. "The two men were my husband Brian and my brother Ted."

The men reappeared all wearing the same angry look. "Buster?" Danny asked worriedly and made to go down the stairs.

His uncle grabbed his shoulder and shook his head, "You don't want to see buddy."

"So what now?" Susan asked.

"We're leaving," her husband said as the guys herded everyone back into the house to grab their stuff. They all moved together so no one was left on their own and were back out the front within 10 minutes.

Sarah held a mutinous silence as Dean explained that she'd be going with the family to the motel. She realised that she would be more of a liability than help but she hated leaving them. As ridiculous as it was she felt like nothing would happen to them as long as they stayed in sight. They rounded the drive and Sarah started as Dean broke off mid instruction, "Oh come on!" Looking closer Sarah realised that the Impala's wheels had been slashed. The boot was also opened and emptied of any and all useful weapons. Sam slammed the trunk in frustration as Brian and Ted reported that both the car and the truck were also undrivable.

"What kind of ghost messes with a man's wheels?" Dean raged.

Everyone's angry comments were interrupted by Kate's scream, "She's there, she's there!"

They turned and pointed flashlights but the ghost had disappeared. Sarah heard Sam and Dean arguing about the strangeness of a ghost appearing outside before he turned and ordered everyone back in. Ted protested but was quickly shot down as the family was herded back inside the house.

They regrouped in the living room and Sam laid a circle of salt while Dean explained the ghost wouldn't be able to enter it. Sarah sat back a little away from the group and listened in frustration as Brian and Ted talked down to Sam and Dean. Sarah could only imagine how her own father would have reacted if this had happened to them, but it was still annoying that it took Dean threatening to gift Ted with a third hole to get the man to shut up and sit down. _I mean come on they were trying to save their lives after all. _

They decided that the ghost must be the dead daughter after all and Sam left to check out the attic. "What are you looking for?" Sarah asked as she handed him their only gun.

Sam shrugged nonchalantly, "Some hair, maybe a tooth; something that could be tying her here."

So Sam left and the rest of them huddled together. Quiet save for Ted's snarky comments until Susan told him to cut it out. There was a sudden scratchy, scraping noise from a nearby closet and the ghost silently emerged. Sarah had seen a fair few nasties by this point and she liked to think that she was getting a little used to them by now, but this girl made her heart thump wildly in her chest. Her pale eyes were filled with a wild kind of rage and as she silently edged closer Sarah couldn't help but cringe back behind Dean. "Don't worry," he said in a confident voice holding an iron poker between them and her, "She can't cross over."

The ghost, however, didn't seem the least put out as she continued to move towards them ragged and filthy and...stinky. _Wait a minute do ghosts smell? _Just as she finished that thought the girl stepped softly over the salt line and Sarah caught sight of the knife in her hand.

"I thought you said she couldn't come in," Kate squeaked.

"It means she's not a ghost," Dean said and Sarah could almost see the cogs spinning in his head as he reassessed what was going on. As if their voices had snapped her out of her trance-like state the girl snarled and lunged at Dean. As she screamed and slashed the family tore back out of the house, Dean swinging back trying to keep her at bay. Sarah stood frozen in shock for a moment before picking up a nearby wooden stool. As Dean stumbled backward Sarah threw it as hard as she could catching her in the shoulder. The girl snarled again clutching her shoulder, practically frothing at the mouth, before slamming back into the closet.

A second later Sam skidded back into the room, "What happened?"

"It's not a ghost," Dean said as Sarah helped him to his feet.

"It's not? So it's just a girl?"

"She's been living in the walls," Sarah said feeling pretty dazed, "Like _Children Under the Stairs _living in the walls. I think old Bill must have been a seriously creepy guy."

"Ok," Dena said as they trooped down the porch, "New plan. We walk everyone out of here and then come back with a ridiculously big rat trap." They ran back into Brian and sent him to round up his family.

"I knew it was just some hillbilly bitch," Ted muttered as Dean explained what they would do next.

"Wait a minute," Susan broke in, "Where's Danny?"

They spent the next few minutes calling out helplessly and stopping each other from going out to search for him alone. This is why they work alone Sarah realised, these people are ridiculous. How could they lose their own son? They were on their own for like five minutes.

"I'm not leaving without him," Susan insisted.

"She's right, until the four of us find Danny," he said indicating the four men, "The safest place for you is the shed."

As Susan and Kate protested Sarah looked over the garden shed. It was dark and creepy looking but Dean was right, with all the windows boarded up and only one door in it was probably the safest place at the moment.

"Come on," she said interrupting Kate mid-complain, "The sooner we get inside the sooner they'll find your brother."

She forced herself not to look back as they made their way inside. _The boys would handle it _she told herself firmly, but as they barricaded themselves inside the musty shed she found herself agreeing with Dean. Crazy humans were 100 times creepier than ghosts.

###

Sarah shuddered as she sat on an old wooden table in the garden shed. She didn't know who she felt sorrier for; the obnoxious Ted who'd coped a knife to the throat while searching the walls for Danny, or the wild child herself who Sam had uncovered was the by-product of Old Man Bill repeatedly raping his own daughter. He'd probably been visiting his granddaughter too for who knows how long. The satisfaction Sarah felt at Bill's bloody death was mildly disturbing.

Unfortunately all their revelations didn't change the fact that they had an abused, psychotic teenager itching to carve them to bits. And so there they were, the three girls locked in the shed while the men, now only three, tried to find Danny before it was too late.

"So," Sarah said to break the awkward silence, "Sure is nice country out here. The house should actually be really nice. Once you get rid of the pests."

Susan was saved from making any kind of response as one of the boarded windows was smashed in showering them in shards of glass and broken timber. There was a glimpse of the girl's snarled dark hair and then she ran around the side. Susan and Kate backed towards the opposite wall screaming and Sarah yanked them back into the centre of the room. "Don't you people ever watch horror movies? You always stay away from the walls, especially when they're as thin and dodgy as these ones." As if she'd planned it a knife blade popped through the far wall the girls had been edging towards.

Sarah stared between where the knife had just disappeared and the broken window, hefting the iron poker Sam had given her in front of her. She really wished she still had that gun right about now. The far wall rattled and started to buckle as the girl tried to push her way through. Susan grabbed a rake, wedging it underneath, but the girl continued to beat against the wall snarling and screaming.

"I know you're angry we're here but I promise we're not going to hurt you," Sarah yelled through the wall. "If you just calm down I'm sure we can help." Everything went quiet as the girl stopped throwing herself against the wall. Sarah took a deep breath, "He can't hurt you anymore."

There was a feral roar as the girl burst through the wall pinning Susan underneath her. She screamed triumphantly and brought the knife down. Sarah didn't think she just slammed the poker into the back of her head. The girl slumped to the dirt ground without a sound and lay unmoving. "Do you think she's dead?" Kate asked as Sarah helped Susan to her feet. Sarah just stared down at the body 100 B grade horror movies flashing though her head. And then, like a bad Wes Craven film, the girl shrieked and lunged to her feet. Sarah brought the poker down again and this time there was no doubt as she felt and heard the girl's skull make a wet crunch and then cave inwards.

There was a banging at the door and Brian called out if they were ok. As Susan and Kate rushed to let him in Sarah looked down at the girl's chalky, still face and felt the bile rising in her throat. She'd just killed a kid. She heard Brian, Susan and Kate's voices buzzing around her but instead of joining in she lurched to the door, barely making it outside before throwing up into the nearby bushes.

She was wiping her mouth as she felt Sam and Dean come up behind her. "You ok?" Sam asked softly.

"Wonderful. You find Danny?"

Dean nodded and then stared at her; like he knew what had happened, like he knew what she'd done. Sarah fought the urge to cry. "Well great...um I think I'm gonna go wait in the car."

###

It wasn't that easy of course, Dean still had to fix the tyres and Sarah silently helped Sam put everything the feral kids had taken back in the boot. Turns out that Bill's daughter had had twins, Sam and Dean taking care of the boy inside the house while saving Danny. The boys seemed to sense that she needed a little time and hadn't asked what had happened yet. She knew they wouldn't let it drop, she was just glad they were going to give her a chance to breath first.

It was mid-morning before they were ready to leave and they gave a subdued goodbye to the family, grateful that they were giving them a head start before calling the cops. As they drove away and the farm house receded into the distance Sarah turned up her IPod and tried to think about something else.

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Author's note: Phew! Sorry for such a long and more serious chapter. This is kind of a turning point in the story where Sarah sees up close some of the not so nice aspects of hunting. Over the next few chapters it will get heavier as Sam and Dean start to break apart.

But don't worry because before all that drama it's Christmas! Next chapter Sarah will get her chance to plan the boys' Christmas. What will she get them all?...No seriously what will she get them? I've been racking my brain for weeks now and haven't been able to come up with anything good.

If you come up with any great ideas please msg me, I'm horribly stumped right now.


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